Coronavirus LIVE: Mumbai sees 696 cases; 468 in Chennai; 1,263 in Bengaluru

Coronavirus unlock live updates: In view of declining Covid-19 cases, states like UP, Kerala, MP, Rajasthan have relaxed lockdown curbs. Stay tuned for corona-related news

6:42 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Kerala reports 12,443 fresh cases

6:28 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Uttarakhand reports 220 new cases

Uttarakhand reports 220 new cases, 217 recoveries and 5 deaths today; the recovery rate in the state is 95.26 per cent

6:23 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 135 new cases in Delhi

6:22 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Goa see 302 new cases

5:58 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Andhra Pradesh reports 5,674 new cases

5:44 PM

DATA STORY: India sees net reduction in active cases for 37th day straight

India on Saturday reported a net reduction of 38,637 in active coronavirus cases to take its count to 760,019. India’s share of global active coronavirus cases now stands at 6.55 per cent (one in 14). The country is second among the most affected countries by active cases. On Friday, it added 60,753 cases to take its total caseload to 29,823,546. And, with 1,647 new fatalities, its Covid-19 death toll reached 385,137, or 1.29 per cent of total confirmed infections.

 

With 3,300,085 more Covid-19 vaccine doses being administered on Friday, India’s total count of vaccine shots so far reached 272,388,783. The count of recovered coronavirus cases across India, meanwhile, reached 28,678,390 – or 96.16 per cent of total caseload – with 97,743 new cured cases being reported on Saturday. Read here

 

 

5:12 PM

Chhattisgarh health workers climb moutains, cross river to vaccinate people in remote areas

A team of health workers crossed a knee-deep river, climbed mountains and walked through a 9-kilometere dense forest to reach a remote area in Chhattisgarh's Balrampur to hold a Covid-19 vaccination drive.

 

ANM Gyaneshwari, the member of the vaccination team, said the team of the Health Department walked through a 9-kilometre dense forest and crossed the river to vaccinate the people of Bachwar village.

 

Speaking to ANI, Balrampur Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Dr Basant Singh said, "Our health team visits these areas for regular checkups. It takes about half a day to reach here. With our Covid awareness campaign, there is no hesitancy regarding vaccination among the people in this village."

 

One of the villagers said that along with the vaccine dose, the teams are also providing us health-related information. "The doctors also shared with us their experience of being vaccinated against the virus." (ANI)

 

 

 

 

4:51 PM

Coronavirus Latest: UK holds first festival since pandemic start

Thousands of heavy metal fans are camping, singing and even moshing in the rain at Britain's first full music festival since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The three-day Download Festival, taking place at Donington Park in central England, is one of a series of test events to see whether mass gatherings can resume without triggering outbreaks of Covid-19.

 

About 10,000 fans, a tenth of the festival's pre-pandemic attendance, have tickets to watch more than 40 bands including Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes and Bullet for My Valentine. (PTI)

4:48 PM

Mizoram logs 314 fresh Covid infections; caseload at over 16,500

Mizoram's Covid-19 tally rose to 16,750 as 314 people, including over 80 children, have tested positive for the virus, an official said on Saturday.

 

The fresh cases were reported from various districts with Aizawl registering the highest at 240, followed by Lunglei (27) and Siaha (17), he said.

 

The single-day positivity rate was 9.62 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 3,261 sample tests, he said.

 

Thirteen patients have travel history and the rest 301 were found to have locally contracted the infection, he said. Read here

4:47 PM

More than 28.7 millon doses still available with states/UTs, says govt

More than 28.50 crore (28,50,99,130) vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far, through Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category. Read full release here

 

4:09 PM

US govt to invest over $3 billion for Covid-19 antiviral medicines

The US government is investing more than $3 billion to accelerate the development and manufacturing of antiviral medicines to treat Covid-19, according to a statement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

 

The plan, called the Antiviral Program for Pandemics, will respond to the urgent need for the antivirals by spurring the availability of medicines to prevent serious illness and save lives, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying on Friday.

 

This plan will support research to identify and accelerate availability of breakthrough treatment options. Read here

4:04 PM

Japan imposes stricter curbs on India's Olympic-bound athletes

The Indian athletes and officials travelling for the Tokyo Olympics have been asked by the Japanese government to undergo daily Covid-19 tests for a week prior to their departure and not interact with anyone from another country for three days on arrival, strictures that have left the IOA fuming.

 

Stricter regulations have been put in place for all travellers -- including athletes, coaches and support staff -- who have resided in 11 countries, including India, where different variants of Covid-19 have been identified, within 14 days of their arrival in Tokyo.

 

"The unfair and discriminatory" rules have drawn sharp criticism from the Indian Olympic Association. India's Covid-19 situation has improved considerably after a catastrophic second wave with daily cases declining from more than 3 lakh a few weeks back to just over 60,000 right now. Read here

3:49 PM

Take warning of third wave seriously, Maharashtra Deputy CM to people

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday asked people not to lower their guard against Covid-19 in view of the possible third wave of the pandemic, and warned them against visiting tourist attractions in the present scenario just because restrictions have been eased.

 

He said people need to take the warning about the third wave seriously.

 

Pawar was talking to reporters here after holding a meeting with officials to review the coronavirus situation in Pune district.

 

He also said that if people continue to go out of the district for tourism purposes, the administration will have no other option but to impose a 15-day quarantine regime on such people after their return home. (PTI)

3:41 PM

MP govt to set up pandemic research institute

The Madhya Pradesh government has decided to set up a state-level research institute for the Covid-19 pandemic and other diseases here, state medical education minister Vishvas Sarang said on Saturday.

 

He said the proposal was approved by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday.

 

A state-level public health institute will come up in Bhopal for the research of the Covid-19 pandemic and other diseases including contagious diseases, Sarang told reporters. (PTI)

3:34 PM

Odisha logs 3,427 new Covid-19 cases, 42 fresh fatalities

Odisha's Covid-19 tally rose to 8,73,925 on Saturday as 3,427 more people tested positive for the infection, while 42 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 3,550, a health official said.

 

As many as 1,954 new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 1,473 infections were detected during contact tracing, he said.

 

Khurda district, under which Bhubaneswar falls, registered the highest number of new cases at 553, followed by Cuttack (396) and Jajpur (285). (PTI)