Coronavirus LIVE: No new case in 47 districts in last 3 weeks, says govt

Coronavirus live updates: Globally, nearly 105 million people have been infected by the virus and the death toll stands at 2,276,303

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Daily deaths are also continuously declining in India: Health Ministry

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India's Covid-19 recovery rate has crossed 97%: Health Ministry

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India's coronavirus positivity rate is now around 5.42%: Health Ministry

India's coronavirus positivity rate is also less in compare to the month of August where it is around 9% but now it is around 5.42%, Health Ministry on Thursday.

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47 districts have not reported any new Covid-19 case: Health Ministry

47 districts have not reported any new Covid-19 case, 251 districts have not registered any new death in last three weeks, said Health Ministry on Thursday.

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LIVE: Health Ministry briefing on Covid-19 vaccination

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Coronavirus LIVE: 4.5 mn vaccine doses administered in 19 days, says govt

Nearly 4.5 million (44,49,552) beneficiaries have received COVID-19 vaccine shots in merely 19 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. India became the fastest country in the world to reach the 4 million COVID-19 vaccination mark, achieving this feat in 18 days.

 

"Many other countries have had a head start of almost 65 days. India launched the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16. The number of beneficiaries being vaccinated every day has also shown a progressive increase," the ministry said.

 

In a span of 24 hours,3,10,604people were vaccinated across 8,041 sessions, it said, adding that 84,617 sessions have been conducted so far. India'sCOVID-19 active caseload has dropped to1.55 lakh (1,55,025) and comprisesjust1.44 per centof the total infections. The day-on-day change in the number of active cases over the last few weeks depicts the consistent decline in active cases.

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Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developers claim that it reduces Covid-19 transmission

As per a report by developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine on Sunday, claimed that it can reduce the transmission of COVID-19 virus, reported The Washington Post.

 

In a preprint of an article under review at the Lancet medical journal, the Oxford University vaccine developers report that was based on follow-up studies of their clinical trials found the vaccine safe and effective, there is also "the potential for the vaccine to reduce transmission of the virus".

 

Many vaccines developed against the virus have produced evidence that they are effective at reducing the number of people who experience symptoms or suffer severe illness or die, but much less is known about whether any of the available vaccines can prevent asymptomatic infections that can pass from one person to another.

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Telangana's active coronavirus cases drop below 2,000

Active Covid-19 cases in Telangana dropped below 2,000 as more patients continue to recover, state health officials said on Thursday. A total of 198 patients recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours, bringing down the active cases to 1,985. Of them 776 were in home or institutional isolation.

 

According to director of public health and family welfare, the recovery rate improved to 98.78 per cenrt as against the national average of 97.1 per cent. The state reported 177 new cases, pushing the tally to 2,95,101. The number of recoveries mounted to 2,91,510. Two more persons succumbed to the virus, taking the toll to 1,606.

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Gulf Arab states launch new restrictions over rising coronavirus cases

Gulf Arab states on Thursday launched new restrictions over fears of the coronavirus resurging across their countries.

 

With populations including largely young and healthy foreign labourers, many Gulf countries have avoided the higher death tolls seen elsewhere around the world.

 

However, reported case numbers appear to be rising since the New Year, sparking concern even as several regional countries have some of the highest per capita vaccination rates in the world. Read on...

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Iran to start receiving Covid-19 vaccines developed by AstraZeneca in Feb

Iran will start receiving doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in February via the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) platform, Minister of Health and Medical Education Saeed Namaki announced.

 

"AstraZeneca informed us the night before last that it will start delivering 4.2 million doses in February within the framework of COVAX," Namaki said in a video announcement on Wednesday.

 

Namaki also said that Iran's Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute has been authorised to start clinical trials of its vaccine candidate, and they will hopefully start the trials next week. Read on...

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Recovered Covid-19 patients may need only one shot of mRNA vaccines, say scientists

People who have recovered from the novel coronavirus infection may need only one shot as opposed to the recommended two jabs if they are taking the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, according to a study which suggests ways to minimise doses when supplies are limited.

 

The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study, posted in the preprint repository medRxiv, assessed the antibody responses in 109 individuals with and without documented pre-existing immunity to the novel coronavirus.

 

According to the researchers, including Florian Krammer from the Icahn School of Medicine in the US, a single dose of mRNA vaccine elicits very rapid immune responses in individuals already possessing antibodies against the coronavirus from previous exposure to it.

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Millions of defaults threaten microfinance's future in Covid-hit India

In February 2020, unaware the coronavirus pandemic was about to wipe out her livelihood, Arpita Das borrowed $2,300 to buy materials and equipment for her family fishing business in West Bengal, India. A few weeks later, demand for her prawns collapsed, leaving her unable to make the $180 monthly repayments to two microlenders.
 

The 33-year-old mother of two, who’d never missed a payment since she started borrowing three years earlier, is now living off the vegetables and grains she grows on a plot of land outside the home she shares with her husband and his parents. With the whole family out of work, they’re unlikely to have any income unless she can borrow $1,400 for this year’s prawn harvest. Read on...

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Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (February 4)

Active cases: 155,025 (Net reduction: 5,032)

Deaths: 154,703 (Net increase: 107)

Cured: 10,480,455 (Net increase: 17,824)

Total cases: 10,790,183 (Net increase: 12,899)

Total vaccination: 44,49,552 (Increase over previous day: 310,604)

 

9:54 AM

Jharkhand reports 46 new Covid-19 cases, two fresh fatalities

Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally mounted to 118,839 as 46 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Thursday.

 

The death toll rose to 1,077 after two persons from Dhanbad and Ranchi succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said.

 

Ranchi district registered the maximum number of fresh cases at 20, followed by East Singhbhum at eight and Dhanbad, Bokaro and Gumla at three each.

9:52 AM

India to get 97 million doses of Serum-made AstraZeneca vaccine from Covax

According to the interim distribution forecast released by Covax, the World Health Organization (WHO)-Gavi initiative to ensure equitable distribution of vaccine across the globe, India will get around 97 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by Serum Institute of India (SII). As of now, Covax has not allotted the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for India. Read on...