Coronavirus LIVE: 6 mn doses given Thurs; 109 new cases in Delhi

Today's coronavirus numbers: Bengaluru (1,008 cases), Mumbai (863 cases), Chennai (396 cases), Kolkata (178 cases), Delhi (111 cases). Stay tuned for corona-related news

7:05 PM

Kerala sees 12,708 new infections

Kerala recorded 12,708 fresh coronavirus cases, including 77 health workers, on Thursday while over 99,000 people are undergoing treatment for the disease.

 

As many as 11,469 people have been cured, taking the total recoveries to 27.41 lakh so far.

 

The cumulative cases have mounted to 28.55 lakh. (PTI)

6:52 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Keeping an eye on efforts by Bharat Biotech to get EUL from WHO

We are closely following the developments regarding efforts by Bharat Biotech to obtain Emergency Use Listing authorization from World Health Organisation: MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi

 

6:47 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Tamil Nadu sees 6,162 fresh cases

6:26 PM

Daimler equips BharatBenz buses with virus-prevention features

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) on Thursday said it has launched features across its BharatBenz bus range to ensure safe public transport amid the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The company has rolled out 'BSafe' features, which include hands-free doors, sanitisers and temperature sensors, for its BharatBenz bus fleet to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection.

 

Daimler Bus India Head Karl-Alexander Seidel said in a statement, "In response to the need of the hour, our BharatBenz Bus fleet offers innovative solutions to mitigate virus transmission. These vehicles address people's apprehensions towards public transport by offering reassuring features in line with Covid-19 safety and hygiene protocols." (PTI)

6:02 PM

CEA expects food inflation to ease with unlock, good monsoon

Attributing the rise in food prices to restrictions imposed by several states during April-May to deal with the second wave of Covid-19, Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian said food inflation is likely to moderate on account of the twin impact of opening up of economic activities and good monsoon.

 

Moreover, the Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) asserted that high food inflation has not impacted a large section of population as they are being given free ration under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.

 

"Some of the increase in food inflation in the recent print has been because of the restrictions that have been placed...we even saw last year when the lockdown happened and the supply side was affected, impacting food inflation, which in turn then led to an impact on CPI inflation. (PTI)

5:41 PM

Uttarakhand CM residence being prepared for COVID-19 patients during third wave

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Thursday said he is preparing his official residence for the treatment of coronavirus patients during the third wave.

 

"There is no lack of preparedness to tackle the third wave. There are more Covid dedicated hospitals now. Two 500-bed hospitals each were developed with the help of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Rishikesh and Haldwani in addition to the existing ones," he told reporters here.

 

Rawat said district magistrates (DMs) have been asked to keep one or two hotels ready to be converted into Covid care centres if the need arises. (PTI)

5:24 PM

Pfizer says vaccine highly effective against Delta variant

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is highly effective against the Delta variant of Covid-19, a Pfizer official in Israel said on Thursday. First identified in India, Delta is becoming the globally dominant version of the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organization. Read here

5:03 PM

Singapore to ramp up vaccination drive; increasing daily doses by 70%

Singapore will accelerate its national Covid-19 vaccination programme from Saturday and administer up to 80,000 vaccine doses daily, a 70 per cent increase from the 47,000 daily doses currently, the health ministry said on Thursday.

 

The ramp up is due to the delivery of vaccine supplies being brought forward, The Straits Times newspaper reported.

 

The health ministry expects to add another 500,000 new slots in the next few days for people making their first dose appointments from now till mid-July. (PTI)

4:44 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Goa minister lays out guidelines for tourists post unlock

4:28 PM

Post Covid Clinics will be set up in TN: Stalin

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday said the government will set up Post Covid Clinics to attend to complications that may arise in patients who had suffered the disease.

 

Speaking in the Assembly, Stalin said that the budget to be presented in the House will contain the government's programmes, its journey towards that, the hindrances and the challenges and steps to overcome those hindrances.

 

Stalin said the Governor's address is like a movie trailer containing the policies of the government for a year. It cannot contain the government's five year plans and programmes.

 

Listing the various measures taken by the DMK government, Stalin said the first task of the government is to set right its treasury which is now in a bad shape. (IANS)

4:13 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 4,981 new cases in Andhra Pradesh in a single day

4:00 PM

Distribution of vaccines among states done in transparent manner: Centre

Allocation of Covid-19 vaccines to a state is done based on its population, caseload, utilisation efficiency and wastage factors, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said and dismissed media reports alleging non-transparent distribution of the jabs.

 

The ministry said the allegations of non-transparent distribution of vaccines among states are "completely without any basis, and not fully informed".

 

It clarified that the Government of India continues to allocate Covid-19 vaccines to states and union territories in a transparent manner based on the population of a state, caseload, its utilisation efficiency and wastage factors. (PTI)

3:41 PM

Novel method to accurately, quickly detect Covid-19 from phone swabs

Researchers have developed a non-invasive and low-cost method that can accurately and rapidly detect Covid-19 using samples taken from the screens of smartphones.

 

The researchers from University College London (UCL) in the UK analysed swabs from mobile screens rather than directly from people using the method known as Phone Screen Testing (PoST).

 

They found that people who tested positive by the regular nasal swabbing PCR test were also positive when samples were taken from smartphone screens.

 

The new method, described in the journal eLife on Tuesday, detected the Covid-19 virus on the phones of 81 to 100 per cent of contagious people with a high viral load, suggesting it is as accurate as antigen tests. (PTI)

3:26 PM

Pakistan Covid caseload reaches 951,865

Pakistan recorded 1,097 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, raising the total infection tally to 951,865, official data showed Thursday.

 

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 38 patients died in the same period, raising the death toll to 22,108, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

There have been 896,821 recoveries so far in Pakistan, as well as 32,936 active cases being treated across the country, including 2,084 in critical condition, the NCOC said. (PTI)

3:07 PM

Covid testing scam: Uttarakhand HC grants protection to accused from arbitrary arrest

The Uttarakhand High Court has granted protection to executives of Max Corporate Services from arbitrary arrest in connection with the alleged fake Covid testing scam during the Haridwar Kumbh Mela and asked the agency to join the investigation.

 

Justice N S Dhanik on Wednesday granted protection to the accused from arbitrary arrest in the scam after the Delhi-based agency's partner Mallika Pant went to the court on behalf of the agency challenging the FIR against it, the petitioner's counsel Kartikey Hari Gupta said.

 

However, the court asked the agency to cooperate in the investigation and appear before the investigation officer in the case on Friday, he said. (PTI)