Covid LIVE: Gujarat CM rolls out fresh curbs, night curfew till June 26

Coronavirus live updates: Tamil Nadu recorded 18,023 cases in the last 24 hours. Kerala registered 15,567 infections, Maharashtra 10,891, Karnataka 9,808 , Delhi 316. Stay tuned for corona-related new

2:31 PM

Birth cord cells can boost survival of critically ill Covid patients

Critically ill Covid-19 patients treated with non-altered stem cells from umbilical cord connective tissue were more than twice as likely to survive as those who did not have the treatment, according to a small study.

 

The clinical trial, carried out at four hospitals in Jakarta, Indonesia, also showed that administering the treatment to Covid-19 patients with an added chronic health condition such as diabetes, hypertension or kidney disease increased their survival more than fourfold.

 

The findings were published in the STEM CELLS Translational Medicine. All 40 patients who took part in the double-blind, controlled, randomised study were adults in intensive care who had been intubated due to Covid-19-induced pneumonia.

2:15 PM

Millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses to expire soon in the United States

While many countries are yet to receive even one dose of Covid vaccines, many US states are seeing unused Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses piling up on shelves -- all set to expire this month, media reports say.

 

State officials have warned the doses could go to waste if they go unused in the coming weeks or are not sent elsewhere.

 

About 200,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are set to expire on June 23, New York Times quoted Ohio state Governor Mike DeWine as saying. READ MORE...

2:09 PM

500-bedded DRDO Covid Hospital inaugurated with an ICU facility in Srinagar

2:02 PM

India's daily Covid positivity rate dips to 4.66%, recovery rate at 94.55%

As the country records less than one lakh cases for the second successive days, the daily positivity rate of India has declined to 4.66 per cent, informed to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Wednesday.

 

"The weekly positivity rate is currently at 5.66 per cent while the daily positivity rate stands at 4.66 per cent today. It has remained less than 10 per cent for 16th consecutive days now," the health ministry said.

 

India has been witnessing a continuous fall in the active caseload and is below 20 lakhs for nine successive days. The country's active caseload today stands at 12,31,415. READ MORE...

1:50 PM

Over 1.33 crore Covid vaccine doses still available with states: Centre

More than 1.33 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and union territories and over 3 lakh doses are in the pipeline and will be received by them within the next three days, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.

 

Over 25 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far, through the government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category.

 

Of this, the total consumption, including wastage, is 23,74,21,808 doses (according to data available at 8 am on Wednesday), the ministry said.

1:46 PM

India records less than 100,000 daily new Covid cases for two continuous days

1:43 PM

Covid more likely to spread indoors through maskless interaction

Speaking without masks in confined spaces poses the greatest risk of spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, to others, according to a study.

 

The study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine describes how different sized respiratory droplets emitted while speaking span a continuum of sizes and can carry different amounts of virus.

 

Most concerning are intermediate-sized droplets that remain suspended in air for minutes and can be transported over considerable distances by convective air currents.

1:32 PM

Parliament PAC to meet on June 16 to deliberate on Covid vaccination policy

The Parliament Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will hold a meeting on June 16 to deliberate on the country's Covid-19 vaccination policy.

 

This will be the first Standing Committee meeting with physical presence amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Earlier in May, chairman of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for an early PAC meeting to deliberate upon the pandemic situation and the government's Covid-19 vaccination policy.

1:27 PM

Millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses to expire soon in US

While many countries are yet to receive even one dose of Covid vaccines, many US states are seeing unused Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses piling up on shelves -- all set to expire this month, media reports say.

 

State officials have warned the doses could go to waste if they go unused in the coming weeks or are not sent elsewhere.

 

About 200,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are set to expire on June 23, New York Times quoted Ohio state Governor Mike DeWine as saying.

 

The state's health department directed providers to adopt a "first-in, first-out" process for the shot to ensure doses with earlier expiration dates were used first.

 

As many as 60,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine may be wasted in Arkansas, and in West Virginia 20,000 to 25,000 doses are nearing their expiration date.

1:25 PM

Telangana further relaxes Covid-19 restrictions, permits more activities

With an increase in the relaxation hours during the lockdown from Thursday onwards, the Telangana government has permitted some more economic activities in the state.

 

While petrol pumps located on national highways were already exempted from lockdown, fuel stations located in places other than national highways can now remain open between 6 a.m. and 5 pm.

 

The State Cabinet on Tuesday decided to extend the lockdown by 10 days (June 10 to June 19) but extended the relaxation period from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a grace period of another hour to enable people to reach their homes. The lockdown will be in force from 6 pm to 6 am the next day.

1:22 PM

Plant, fish based diet linked with less Covid-19 severity: Study

Vegetarian and fish based diets may be associated with lower odds of developing moderate to severe Covid-19 infection, suggest the findings of a six-country survey based on self-reported symptoms.

 

The researchers noted that the survey is observational, and does not establish a causative relation between diet and Covid-19 severity, and caution is needed in the interpretation of the findings.

 

The survey results, published in the journal BMJ Nutrition Prevention & Health on Tuesday, indicate that plant and fish based diets were associated with 73 per cent and 59 per cent lower odds, respectively, of severe disease.

1:05 PM

Agra hospital 'mock drill': Priyanka Gandhi slams Uttar Pradesh govt

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday attacked the Yogi Adityanath dispensation over the reported "mock drill" at a private hospital in Agra in which oxygen supply was allegedly cut off for five minutes, and asked if the Uttar Pradesh government will bring out the truth and punish those guilty.

 

The Agra administration on Tuesday ordered a probe after a video clip surfaced in which the owner of a private hospital there was purportedly heard saying that he conducted a "mock drill" in which oxygen supply was cut off for Covid patients for five minutes.

 

In the video which went viral on social media, the owner of the hospital is also heard saying that bodies of some patients started turning blue after the oxygen supply was cut off.

1:03 PM

Heavy traffic movement in Patna after the state govt lifted Covid-19 lockdown

ASI Mithilesh Kumar Suman says, "People are roaming outside unnecessarily, we urge them to not do that. I have been collecting fines since morning but people don't understand."

12:58 PM

Parents lost to Covid-19, young lives fall vulnerable to exploitation

As India reeled under a brutal second wave of the pandemic, appeals for adoption of children whose parents had succumbed to Covid-19 circulated widely on social media.

 

When an official of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) called up a number, posing as an interested party, adoption was promised but in exchange for cash — the going rate was Rs 8 lakh for the custody of a boy and Rs 5 lakh for a girl. The child rights body alerted the police. And it passed on details of another suspected child trafficking racket to the West Bengal police after a group promised to allow orphaned children to be picked up from Kolkata. Read on...

12:52 PM

Covid-19 vaccine policy change likely to resolve GST rate cut demand

The Centre's new vaccine procurement policy may lay to rest the demands for tax cut in Covid-19 vaccines.

 

Although the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has not made any concrete recommendation on rates for vaccine, the demand made by some states to lower it may be practically met after the change in vaccination policy. The Centre will now procure 75 per cent of all the vaccine produced in the country and provide them to states for free.
 

However, the private procurement of 25 per cent of vaccines would require a payment of 5 per cent GST, an official said. The issue of GST rate on vaccines will now be discussed in the meeting of the GST Council expected to be held this month. Read on...