Covid LIVE: Staff shortage affected patients most, says Maharashtra survey

Maharashtra says 'slight increase' in Covid-19 cases is worrying; Japan investigates deaths of two people who had been administered Moderna's vaccines.

8:38 AM

Health Min Mandaviya launches 1st commercial batch of Covaxin manufactured in Ankleshwar

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday launched the first commercial batch of Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN manufactured in Gujarat's Ankleshwar.

Union Minister said in the event that India is focused on slowing the spread of COVID-19 in the country, and the key to achieving this lies in the swift and efficient administration of vaccines.

8:25 AM

Odisha reports 849 new cases, 68 deaths

Odisha reported 849 fresh COVID-19 cases and 68 fatalities on Saturday, informed the Information and Public Relations Department of the Odisha government.

With this, the total cases in the state stand at 10,06,503 including 7,820 active cases.

7:56 AM

166 children test positive for Covid in Mizoram

As many as 166 children tested positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours in Mizoram, said PTI quoting a statement by a state health department official. The children were among the 880 people who tested positive to take the total to 57,522. The state’s death toll due to the disease rose to 212 after three fresh fatalities were reported in 24 hours.

7:47 AM

China administers total of 2.033 bln doses of vaccines

China administered about 13.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on August 27, bringing the total number of doses administered to 2.033 billion, data from the National Health Commission showed on Sunday. Reuters reported this

6:43 AM

Mandaviya releases Covaxin vaccines

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya released on Sunday the first commercial batch of Covaxin vaccine from the new plant of Bharat Biotech at Ankleshwar in Gujarat's Bharuch. The government, earlier this month, approved the plant to produce the vaccine.

6:11 AM

Arunachal reports 71 new cases

As many as 71 more tested positive for Covid-19 in Arunachal Pradesh in the last 24 hours to take the state’s caseload to 52,831, PTI reported quoting a civil servant. Deaths dues to Covid remain unchanged at 260, as no new fatality was reported in 24 hours.

5:10 AM

India's active cases rise to 368,558

Active cases--Covid patients being treated--have increased to 368,558 and comprise 1.13 per cent of the total infections, said the health ministry on Sunday. The national Covid-19 recovery rate is at 97.53 per cent.

4:23 AM

Thailand expects 40 million doses of vaccines this year

Thailand expects to have 140 million doses of coronavirus vaccines this year as the country ramps up inoculation to fight its biggest wave of infections, which shows some signs of easing, Reuters quoted a government spokesman as saying on Sunday. The country is struggling to tackle the highly transmissible Delta variant of the virus, which has seen a record infections of over 23,000 earlier this month. 

4:02 AM

India reports 45,083 news cases

India reported on Sunday 45,083 news coronavirus cases over 24 hours, said the health ministry, marking a 3.5 per cent rise since Saturday.

3:53 AM

Sri Lanka's defence forces get Chinese vaccines

Sri Lanka's defence forces on Saturday received a batch of 300,000 doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, donated by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Kamal Gunaratne, Sri Lanka’s defence secretary, said the vaccines will be used to inoculate the country’s defence personnel, their families and veterans.

3:24 AM

Sydney reports record number of infections

Sydney had a record number of Covid-19 infections, accounting for the bulk of cases in New South Wales as Australia’s most populous state battles to contain the spread of the highly infectious delta variant. The state saw a high of 1,218 daily infections in the 24 hours to 8 p.m. local time on Saturday, Bloomberg reported. Six more people died.

2:26 AM

Contaminants found in Japan Moderna vaccines

Contaminants were found in Moderna Inc's COVID-19 vaccines at a large-scale vaccination centre in Japan's Okinawa prefecture, suspending inoculations, public broadcaster NHK reported on Sunday. The Okinawa vaccines are from different Moderna lots already suspended by the Japanese government due to reports of contamination, NHK said. Reuters reported this

1:19 AM

Hospitals in U.S. South run low on oxygen

Hospitals in the US Southeast are running low on oxygen, with the worst-hit left only 12 to 24 hours worth, said Premier Inc., a hospital-supply purchasing group. This comes amid the region’s struggle over the summer with high numbers of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations, Bloomberg reported.

 

1:17 AM

Punjab logs 54 new cases on Saturday

As many as 54 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Punjab on Saturday, taking the state's infection tally to 600,514. Two people died of the disease in 24 hours, raising total fatalities to 16,366, PTI reported citing a state medical bulletin.