Covid LIVE: Partial curfew extended in UP; record deaths in Maharashtra

Coronavirus live updates: India recorded 326,123 fresh Covid-19 infections today, taking the caseload tally to 24,372,243. Stay tuned for corona-related news

9:55 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (May 15)

Active cases: 3,673,802 (Net reduction: 31,091)

Deaths: 266,207 (Net increase: 3,890)

Cured: 20,432,898 (Net increase: 353,299)

Total cases: 24,372,907 (Net increase: 326,098)

Total vaccination: 180,457,579 (Increase over previous day: 1,103,625)

 

 

9:21 AM

313,017,193 samples tested for Covid-19 up to 14th May 2021

9:01 AM

India's Covid crisis hits work at ports as risk to global trade grows

India’s devastating Covid-19 crisis is threatening operations at some of its biggest ports, raising concern the action could trigger shipping delays that reverberate through global supply chains.

 

Karaikal Port in southern India invoked force majeure until May 24 after operations were “severely affected” from the pandemic, according to a notice on its website. The terminal, which claims to be India’s biggest non-state port, handles coal, sugar and petroleum among other commodities. Gopalpur port in Odisha has also declared force majeure, according to IHS Markit.

 

The situation may echo global trade disruptions seen last year after virus restrictions slowed shipments into China. While India accounts for only fraction of the global trade that China does, any delays in offloading vessels and releasing them to their next destination could create supply chain bottlenecks. Read on...

8:07 AM

Ladakh coronavirus update: 240 new cases, 231 recoveries and 2 deaths reported

240 new cases, 231 recoveries and 2 deaths were reported in Ladakh on Friday.

Active cases: 1,554

Total cases: 16,156

 

7:54 AM

Andhra Pradesh coronavirus update: 22,018 new Covid-19 cases reported

Andhra Pradesh reports 22,018 new Covid-19 cases, 19,177 recoveries, and 96 deaths in last 24 hours 

 

Active cases: 2,03,787 

Total recoveries: 11,75,843

Death toll: 9,173

7:49 AM

DRDO to launch 2DG medicine for treating Covid-19 patients next week

The first batch of 10,000 doses of 2DG medicine for treating Covid-19 patients would be launched early next week, informed Defence Research and Development Organisation officials on Friday.

 

The official informed, "The first batch of 10,000 doses of 2DG medicine for the treatment of Covid-19 infected patients would be launched early next week and will be given to patients."

 

"The drug manufacturers are working on ramping up the production of the medicine for future use. The drug has been developed by a team of DRDO scientists including Dr Anant Narayan Bhatt", informed DRDO officials. Read on..

7:27 AM

Biden revokes Trump's order barring immigrants who cannot afford healthcare

US President Joe Biden on Friday (local time) revoked a 2019 proclamation issued by former President Donald Trump preventing immigrants from obtaining visas unless they proved they could obtain health insurance or pay for health care.

 

In a statement, Biden said that the previous proclamation "does not advance the interests of the United States".

 

 

"My Administration is committed to expanding access to quality, affordable healthcare. We can achieve that objective, however, without barring the entry of noncitizens who seek to immigrate lawfully to this country but who lack significant financial means or have not purchased health insurance coverage from a restrictive list of qualifying plans," he said. Read on...

7:13 AM

Covid-19 lab leak theory cannot be ruled out, say leading scientists

The origin of the novel coronavirus is still unclear and the theory that it was caused by a laboratory leak needs to be taken seriously until there is a rigorous data-led investigation that proves it wrong, a group of leading scientists said.

 

Covid-19, which emerged in China in late 2019, has killed 3.34 million people, cost the world trillions of dollars in lost income and upended normal life for billions of people.

 

"More investigation is still needed to determine the origin of the pandemic," said the 18 scientists, including Ravindra Gupta, a clinical microbiologist at the University of Cambridge, and Jesse Bloom, who studies the evolution of viruses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Read on...