LIVE: Kerala considering re-opening schools, consulting experts, says CM

Covid-19 live updates: Tamil Nadu extends ban on religious gatherings; Microsoft won't forecast new date for returning to office.

2:58 PM

Delhi reports 36 new cases

2:24 PM

BJP hopes to help achieve highest number of Covid vaccinations on PM Modi's birthday, says Nadda

On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has planned to achieve the highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations on a single day, said the party's national president Jagat Prakash Nadda on Friday, ANI reported.

 

"On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday on September 17, BJP workers at booth level will help people get vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to achieve the highest number of vaccinations on a single day," said Nadda while addressing a press conference in Delhi today.

 

The party had started a "Health Volunteers Campaign" earlier in July under which they aimed at training as many as 4 lakh party workers to visit at least 2 lakh villages and help people fight the COVID-19 pandemic and support the country's healthcare system.

2:23 PM

No Covid-19 case in 33 districts of Uttar Pradesh

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday said there are no active cases of COVID-19 in 33 districts of the state, ANI reported.

 

The state government also informed that the 67 districts have not reported any new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

 

The 33 districts, which have become Covid-19 free -- Aligarh, Amroha, Ayodhya, Baghpat, Ballia, Balrampur, Banda, Basti, Bahraich, Bijnor, Bhadohi, Chitrakoot, Chandauli, Etah, Deoria, Fatehpur, Ghazipur, Gonda, Hamirpur, Hapur, Hardoi, Hathras, Kasganj, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit, Rampur, Saharanpur, Shamli, Siddharth Nagar, and Sonbhadra.

2:23 PM

Turnout low at Guwahati's Ganesh temple amid Covid

1:55 PM

CoWIN launches new API 'Know Your Customer’s Vaccination Status'

Co-WIN has developed a new API called ‘Know Your Customer’s/Client’s Vaccination Status’ or KYC-VS, the ministry of health said. This can be useful in instances where an entity does not need to see the certificate in full and would just need to know whether an individual has been vaccinated or not, the statement said. 

A real-life example could be when at the time of booking a railway ticket, an individual will input the necessary details for buying the ticket and if required, the concerned entity will also get the vaccination status in the same transaction, with the due consent of the individual, the ministry said.

1:51 PM

Puducherry adds 111 new Covid-19 cases

The union territory of Puducherry added 111 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 1,24,629, a senior official of the Department of Health said on Friday, PTI reported.

 

The 111 fresh cases were identified at the end of the examination of 5,847 samples and they were spread over Puducherry (71), Karaikal (30), Mahe (8) and Yanam (two), Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said in a release.

 

He said there was no fresh fatalities during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Friday and the death toll remained at 1,820.

1:24 PM

Manchester Test called off

The fifth Test between India and England, scheduled to start on Friday, was called off in Manchester to prevent Covid-19 infection. India forfeited the match. The final Test was in doubt after India's team physio tested positive for Covid on Thursday, said the website. All Team India players had returned negative RT-PCR results 

1:19 PM

Fifth test between India, England in doubt

The fifth Test match between India and England won't go ahead on Friday, NDTV.com reported quoting sources. The final match was in doubt after India's team physio tested positive for Covid on Thursday, said the website. All Team India players had returned negative RT-PCR results before the match in Manchester. 

 

1:00 PM

China administers 2.13 bln vaccine doses total

China administered about 5.25 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines on September 9, bringing the total number of doses administered to 2.13 billion, Reuters reported citing data from the National Health Commission on Friday.

 

12:48 PM

UK approves Pfizer, AstraZeneca as booster jabs for Covid

The UK's health regulator has approved Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines for booster doses against Covid-19, even as the country's decision on the third dose remains pending.

 

"We know that a person's immunity may decline over time after their first vaccine course. I am pleased to confirm that the Covid-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and AstraZeneca can be used as safe and effective booster doses," said June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive of Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in a statement on Thursday.

 

The decision follows a careful review of available data on safety and effectiveness of booster or supplementary vaccine doses by the MHRA and the independent Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), which advises the government, it added.

12:46 PM

Mizoram reports over 1,000 new COVID cases for 4th consecutive day

Mizoram reported over 1,000 fresh COVID-19 cases for the fourth consecutive day on Friday as 1,055 more people, including 185 children, tested positive, taking the tally in the state to 69,026, a health department official said.

 

The death toll rose to 231 as one more person succumbed to the disease, he said.

 

The daily infection rate was at 10.77 per cent, as the new cases were detected from 9,799 sample tests.

12:32 PM

BRICS members praise India's role in vaccine distribution

India's BRICS Sherpa Sanjay Bhattacharyya on Thursday said that the bloc's member nations have appreciated New Delhi's role in COVID-19 vaccine distribution.

 

"In the distribution of vaccines, all the BRICS members were very appreciative of our role, not only as a major country producing vaccines but also distributing in times when we had a large number of people affected by it," Bhattacharyya said at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday.

 

"Members agreed for extensive vaccination and the development of vaccines," he added.

12:31 PM

Covid vaccines highly effective in preventing hospitalisations, emergency visits: US study

Complete vaccination against COVID-19 is highly effective at preventing hospitalisation, emergency department visit, and intensive care admission due to infection with the virus, according to a study involving data from nearly 200 hospitals around the US.

 

The real-world evidence, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday, was gathered from electronic health records (EHRs) which demonstrate that the vaccines provide high levels of protection for populations disproportionately affected by the virus.

 

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborated with six US healthcare systems plus the Regenstrief Institute, to create the VISION network to assess COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness.

12:31 PM

Maharashtra: Ganesh festival begins under COVID-19 cloud for 2nd year; 'darshan' goes online

Devotees welcomed Lord Ganesh in their homes and public pandals on Friday as the 10-day festival dedicated to the elephant-headed God began in Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra with focus on online 'darshan' amid the coronavirus pandemic and looming threat of a third wave.

 

For the second straight year, the pandemic cast a long shadow on festivities with the Maharashtra government placing a slew of restrictions to avoid gathering and processions.

 

12:23 PM

COVID-19: Active cases decline to 390,646

India logged 34,973 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 33,174,954, while the active cases declined to 390,646, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

 

The death toll climbed to 442,009 with 260 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.

 

The active cases comprise 1.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.49 per cent, the ministry said.