Coronavirus LIVE: Karnataka sees 31,830 new cases; 66,358 in Maharashtra

Coronavirus live updates: India cases stand at 17,636,307. Six most affected states are Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. Stay tuned for corona-related news

9:50 AM

Coronavirus in India: Summary of MoHFW data (April 27)

Active cases: 2,882,204 (Net addition: 68,546)

Deaths: 197,894 (Net increase: 2,771)

Cured: 14,556,209 (Net increase: 251,827)

Total cases: 17,636,307 (Net increase: 323,144)

Total vaccination: 145,271,186 (Increase over previous day: 3,359,963)

9:42 AM

Mukhtar Ansari tests positive for Covid-19 in Uttar Pradesh's Banda jail

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who was recently shifted from a Punjab Jail to a highly-secured isolation barrack in the District Jail in Uttar Pradesh's Banda, has tested positive for Covid-19.

 

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Mau, Ansari along with other inmates were tested for the viral infection by jail authorities on Saturday after which Ansari's rapid antigen test report came positive.

 

Following this, Ansari's RTPCR test sample was collected which also came back positive. READ ON...

9:20 AM

Uttarakhand records 5,058 new Covid-19 infection cases, 67 deaths in a day

Uttarakhand reported 5,058 new Covid cases and 67 deaths on Monday, officials said.

 

Maximum 2,034 cases were reported in Dehradun district, 1,002 in Haridwar, 767 in Nainital, 323 in Pauri, 283 in Udham Singh Nagar, 135 in Almoda, 104 in Champawat, they said.

 

With the fresh cases, the number of coronavirus infected people in the state has gone up to 1,56,859, while 1,12,265 patients have recovered.

 

There are currently 39,031 active cases in the state and the death toll is 2,213.

9:19 AM

Gilead announces steps to expand availability of Remdesivir in India

American biopharmaceutical company Gilead has announced steps to expand the availability of remdesivir, a key therapeutic medicine used in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, in India.

 

The recent surge of COVID-19 cases in India is having a devastating impact on communities and has created unprecedented pressure on health systems, Johanna Mercier, chief commercial officer of Gilead Sciences said on Monday.

 

The company announced that it was providing its voluntary licensing partners technical assistance, support for addition of new local manufacturing facilities and donation of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) to rapidly scale up the production of remdesivir. Read on...

8:58 AM

CEOs of 40 US companies create global task force to help India fight Covid

In a show of solidarity, CEOs of some 40 top American companies have come together to create a global task force to mobilise resources to help India fight the battle against Covid-19.

 

A collective initiative of the US-India Business Council of the US Chambers of Commerce, and the US-India Strategic and Partnership Forum and Business Roundtable, the task force during its meeting here on Monday committed to get 20,000 oxygen concentrators to India in the next few weeks, Deloitte CEO Puneet Renjen told PTI. Read on...

8:45 AM

France to provide oxygen generators, liquid O2, ventilators to India

France to provide oxygen generators, liquid O2, ventilators to India

8:34 AM

Ministry of Ayush issues Covid guidelines for Ayurveda, Unani practitioners

Responding to the need for fresh guidelines amid the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Ayush has released revised guidelines for Ayurveda and Unani practitioners for Covid-19 patients in home isolation and Ayurveda and Unani preventive measures for self-care.

 

In a media release, the ministry said the main focus of the guidelines is on self-care and home management of Covid-19, as the vast majority of Covid-affected families in the country are forced to negotiate the pandemic out of hospitals. Read on...

8:24 AM

Medical supplies from UK, including 100 ventilators & 95 oxygen concentrators, arrived in India

The shipment of vital medical supplies from the United Kingdom, including 100 ventilators & 95 oxygen concentrators, arrived in India earlier this morning: Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

8:15 AM

Oxygen special train with tankers of oxygen arrives at Delhi Cantt from Raigarh in Chhattisgarh

8:02 AM

Medical oxygen is key to Covid fight, but once it used to be quack remedy

The desperate scenes playing out in India may foreshadow a dangerous new phase of the pandemic where people die in droves, not of the disease so much as a lack of proper medical care. The situation could get a lot worse thanks to a sudden shortage of medical oxygen in the country.

 

Oxygen is one of most straightforward and proactive ways of treating the disease, which causes hypoxia. When patients begin gasping for air, a steady supply of concentrated oxygen does wonders.

 

It may seem like an obvious treatment in hindsight, yet it took nearly two centuries to overcome strange theories, outright quackery and trench warfare in the medical community and beyond.

 

Oxygen’s history in medicine begins in the 1770s, when the Swedish pharmacist Karl Scheele and the British scientist Joseph Priestly independently isolated oxygen gas. Priestly unfairly received the lion’s share of the credit. Read on...

7:30 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: 7,727 new cases

14,340 new COVID19 cases, 158 deaths and 7,727 recoveries reported in Gujarat in the last 24 hours; total cases 5,10,373, active cases 1,21,461

7:12 AM

Maharashtra reports 48,700 new Covid-19 cases, 71,736 discharges and 524 deaths in the last 24 hours

Total cases: 43,43,727 

Active cases: 6,74,770 

Total discharges: 36,01,796

Death toll: 65,284

6:55 AM

Delhi scrambles for beds, HC gets Ashoka Hotel as its own Covid facility

Following a request from the Delhi High Court, the Delhi government has ordered Ashoka Hotel, a five-star facility, to set aside 100 rooms for a Covid Health Centre for judges and judicial officers of the court and their families. The facility will be linked to Primus Hospital in Chanakyapuri.

 

An order to this effect was passed by the Chanakyapuri Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Geeta Grover, on Sunday.

 

It comes when families of Covid patients across the national capital are scrambling to get beds and access to hospital care. The High Court itself has made several observations critical of the Centre and the Delhi government on this issue while hearing pleas on the Covid crisis.