Covid LIVE: Maharashtra sees 9,350 new cases; less than 1,000 in Bengaluru

Coronavirus live updates: India records 62,597 cases, 2,726 deaths in the last 24 hours. Tamil Nadu reported 12,772 new infections, followed by Maharashtra (8,129). Stay tuned for corona-related news

1:54 PM

Israel is no longer requiring masks indoors

Israel is no longer requiring masks indoors, lifting one of its last coronavirus restrictions following a highly successful vaccination campaign.

 

The restriction was lifted on Tuesday, though people will still be required to wear masks on airplanes and on their way to quarantine. Unvaccinated individuals must wear masks in nursing homes and other long-term health facilities.

 

Israel has vaccinated around 85% of its adult population, allowing schools and businesses to fully reopen. There are only a few dozen active patients in the country of more than 9 million. (AP)

1:28 PM

Bihar's Covid curbs relaxed further; night curfew from 8 pm to 5 am

1:14 PM

How a smart thermometer is helping fight Covid-19 pandemic in the US

Two weeks before Texas and Florida were struck by Covid-19 and well before the Center for Diseases Control in the United States anticipated it, the smart thermometer of tech firm Kinsa foretold the imminent outbreak.

 

This was when Inder Singh, 44, the Indian-origin founder and CEO of Kinsa, called the former New York state health commissioner and a couple of others in the thick of action and told them that the unusual spike in fever cases recorded in the two cities through his app could well be a sign of Covid-19.

 

It was early March 2020, and the two cities seemed relatively in the clear. Singh’s warning was practically dismissed. But a fortnight later, cor­­onavirus cases exploded in both Florida and Texas. Read on...

1:03 PM

Arunachal Pradesh reports 366 new Covid-19 cases, 5 more deaths

Arunachal Pradesh reported 366 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the coronavirus tally in the northeastern state to 31,648, a senior health official said here on Tuesday.

 

The COVID-19 death toll increased to 151 with six more persons, including a woman succumbing to the infection in the past two days, the official said.

 

Three persons from the Capital Complex region and one each from Lower Siang, Lohit and Lower Subansiri districts died while undergoing treatment at various health facilities, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

1:02 PM

Research being done over need of booster dose against Covid: AIIMS doctor

Research is taking place in India, US and several other countries to see if booster dose will be needed for maintaining longer efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, a senior doctor has said.

 

"It is about five months since the start of vaccination in India. Everyone is looking towards the government, doctors and scientists if they are safe or they need booster dose to make themselves safe. This is the important question and we are having lots of research in India and abroad including US and European countries," Dr Sanjeev Sinha, Professor in Department of Medicine at AIIMS Delhi told ANI.

1:00 PM

Govt confirms first death after Covid vaccination in India, according to media report

Three people from among the millions who received Covid-19 vaccines between February 5 and March 31 developed anaphylaxis due to the vaccine, and one of them died, according to a government review of serious side effects that could be linked to the coronavirus vaccines.

 

The findings represent the first time a fatality has been linked to the vaccines, and strengthen the trend that these are rare: the three cases were among close to 60 million doses that were given during this period. In all, 28 people died after getting a dose during this period but most appeared not to have been linked, while the cause could not be determined in at least 9 of them, according to media report.

12:33 PM

Maharashtra: Thane district sees 351 Covid-19 cases, 23 deaths

With the addition of 351 fresh coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 5,25,488, an official said on Tuesday.

 

These new cases were reported on Monday, he said.

 

With 23 more patients succumbing to coronavirus, the overall death toll in the Thane district rose to 10,299. The mortality rate is 1.95 per cent, he added.

 

The details of the recovered and under-treatment patients were not provided by the district administration.

 

In neighbouring Palghar district, the Covid-19 case count has gone up to 1,13,714 while the death toll is 2,407, the official said.

12:14 PM

World coronavirus update: Denmark starts lifting face mask mandate

Denmark has started to phase out the requirement to wear face masks in all public areas before lifting it entirely by September 1.

 

As of Monday, the wearing of face masks is mandatory on public transport only during rush hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

Customers in shops and supermarkets, and those visiting hairdressers or nail salons, are exempt from the face mask rule.

 

"The vast majority of people at increased risk have been fully vaccinated, and this also applies to a large part of the rest of the population and employees in the health care system," said Helene Probst, deputy director of the Danish Health Authority, in a statement.

 

The relaxation came after a new agreement was reached by the political parties in the Danish Parliament on June 10.

12:05 PM

Brazil reports 827 Covid-19 deaths in last 24 hours; total tally at 488,228

Brazil registered 827 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide tally to 488,228, the health ministry said Monday.

 

A total of 39,846 new infections were detected, raising the nationwide caseload to 17,452,612, the ministry said.

 

Brazil has the world's second highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third largest caseload, following the United States and India.

 

The South American country is experiencing a new wave of infections, with hospitals overwhelmed by patients. Read on...

11:53 AM

Jharkhand logs 151 fresh Covid-19 cases, one new death

Jharkhand recorded only one Covid fatality during the last 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 5,085, a health department bulletin said on Tuesday.

 

The Covid-19 death was reported from East Singhbhum district.

 

The state also reported 151 new Covid-19 cases which took the tally 3,43,609, the bulletin said.

 

The new cases were reported from East Singhbhum (27), Dhanbad (23) and Hazaribag (15).

 

The mortality rate in the state dipped at 1.47 per cent but remained higher than the national average of 1.20 per cent.

11:44 AM

Iran announces emergency use of domestic Covid vaccine

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki has announced the emergency use of a domestic vaccine for Covid-19.

 

The emergency use of COVIran Barakat financed by the Barakat Foundation has been authorised, Namaki said at a conference in the central city of Arak on Monday.

 

The COVIran vaccine has gone through three clinical trial stages, the last of which involved 20,000 people in the cities of Tehran, Bushehr, Shiraz, Karaj, Mashhad and Isfahan, Xinhua news agency quoted the local Tasnim media outlet as saying in a report.

 

Moreover, another vaccine developed jointly by Cuba and the Pasteur Institute of Iran will be authorised next week, Namaki added.

11:35 AM

Early signs of recovery in rural India

In May 2021, the index of consumer sentiments fell by a massive 10.8 per cent compared to its level in the previous month, April. This was after the 3.8 per cent fall it had registered in April. The cumulative fall in the index over the past two months, therefore, was a substantial 14.1 per cent. These are the months wh­en the second wave of Covid-19 infections was at its worst. Evide­n­tly, the harrowing experience of households across Ind­ia during these months had a telling imp­act on consumer sentiments.

 

The index of consumer sentiments has two broad components — the index of current economic conditions and the index of consumer expectations. Both declined sharply during April and May 2021. The cumulative decline in the current economic conditions was 16.1 per cent and that in consumer expectations was 12.9 per cent. Read on...

11:28 AM

Recovery Rate increases to 95.64%: MoHFW

Recovery Rate increases to 95.64%, Weekly Positivity Rate drops to less than 5%, currently at 4.39%. Daily positivity rate at 3.45%, less than 5% for 8 consecutive days: Ministry of Health

11:25 AM

Iran announces emergency use of domestic Covid vaccine

Iranian Health Minister Saeed Namaki has announced the emergency use of a domestic vaccine for Covid-19.

 

The emergency use of COVIran Barakat financed by the Barakat Foundation has been authorised, Namaki said at a conference in the central city of Arak on Monday.

 

The COVIran vaccine has gone through three clinical trial stages, the last of which involved 20,000 people in the cities of Tehran, Bushehr, Shiraz, Karaj, Mashhad and Isfahan, Xinhua news agency quoted the local Tasnim media outlet as saying in a report.

11:20 AM

Tokyo organizers roll out final editions of Covid-19 rule playbooks

IOC Vice President John Coates arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, the same day that organizers and the International Olympic Committee were set to roll out the third and final edition of their so-called Playbooks.

 

Coates is the International Olympic Committee's official in charge of overseeing the Tokyo Games. He has been a controversial figure in Japan, saying the postponed Olympics would go ahead even if the country were under a state of emergency.

 

Organizers confirmed Coates' arrival from Australia. Officials last week said he would be quarantined for three days, followed by 11 days of restricted activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.