LIVE: Both doses of Sputnik V should be taken from same hospital, says DRL

Chief Minister warns Maharashtra 'situation can go out of hand' during festivals; Kerala High Court rules on Covishield vaccine's second dose.

4:50 PM

Minister of State for Health speaks virtually at WHO-South-East Asia Regional Office

4:46 PM

Ganesha festivities in Bengaluru restricted to 3 days

4:21 PM

Over 700 mn Covid vaccine doses administered in India so far: Govt

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 70 crore (700 million), with the last 10 crore doses being given in just 13 days, the fastest so far, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday, PTI reported.

The coronavirus has to be defeated and vaccination is the way to victory, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.

"Soaring higher on COVID-19 vaccination under PM (Prime Minister) @NarendraModi ji's leadership. 70,00,00,000 vaccine doses administered to date," he tweeted.

4:20 PM

Ruling CPI(M) leaders, activists booked for violating COVID curbs

A group of workers of the ruling CPI(M) have courted controversy for allegedly violating the lockdown restrictions in connection with COVID-19, following which police registered a case against 50 of them at Kuttoor in Thiruvalla in this south Kerala district, PTI reported.

The local unit of the Marxist party had allegedly conducted a meeting on Sunday to give membership to around 100 new entrants.

The visuals of the event, attended by several leaders, including the party's state committee member K J Thomas, were aired by television channels later.

4:15 PM

UK PM Boris Johnson invites MPs for drinks at Downing Street with 'Covid pass'

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has invited fellow parliamentarians of Conservative Party for a drinks reception at Downing Street on Tuesday evening, but with the condition that they carry along a so-called COVID pass or proof of being vaccinated or a recent negative test, PTI reported.

Some members of Parliament are not entirely happy about this requirement and plan to turn up without any such proof, even if it means being turned away.

According to The Daily Telegraph', which has seen the invitation, the message reads that "for security and safety reasons... you will need to present your NHS COVID Pass on entry which shows proof of double vaccination, a recent infection or a recent negative test".

3:41 PM

Coastal districts account for nearly 70% of 638 new COVID-19 cases in Odisha

Odisha's eight coastal districts continued to report a high number of fresh COVID-19 cases and fatalities as the region accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the 638 new cases detected on Tuesday and five of the seven deaths recorded during the day, a health official said, PTI reported.

The region accounted for over 65 per cent of the state's caseload of 10,12,805.

The coastal districts reported 445 of the 638 new cases or 69.74 per cent of the daily spike. Khurda, under which Bhubaneswar falls, recorded the highest number of fresh infections at 245, followed by Cuttack (66) and Balasore (33).

3:22 PM

'Third-wave of Covid is not coming, it's here,' says Mumbai mayor

2:47 PM

Goa sets target of Oct 31 to fully vaccinate eligible population

After covering the entire eligible population with the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the Goa government on Tuesday set a target of October 31 to completely vaccinate all beneficiaries in the state, PTI reported.

Speaking at a gathering in Margao, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the entire eligible population should be double vaccinated by October 31, and urged people to join hands with the state government for the same.

He pointed out that neighbouring Maharashtra and Kerala were reporting a rise in COVID-19 cases, and appealed to people not to let their guard down.

 

2:46 PM

What's driving Delta Covid variant to spread

The ability to evade neutralising antibodies while increasing infectivity is the reason why the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has turned dominant in several countries including the UK, the US and India, according to an international team of researchers, IANS reported.

Researchers from National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi, under the Ministry of Health; CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, and University of Cambridge in the UK examined how the Delta variant was able to evade the immune response.

The team extracted serum from blood samples from individuals who had previously been infected with the coronavirus or who had been vaccinated with either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines.

2:46 PM

Tamil Nadu seeks additional 10 mn Covid-19 vaccine doses from Centre

Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday urged the Centre to provide additional one crore COVID-19 vaccine doses for a mega vaccination camp scheduled to begin from September 12, ANI reported.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian in a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya requested for an additional one crore COVID vaccines along with the equal number of 0.5 ml of AD Syringes or 1ml/2ml syringes to the state.

This is in addition to the already-committed 1.04 crore vaccines for government COVID-19 vaccination centres, he said.

2:19 PM

Ask for vaccination status before shaking hands during Ganesh Chaturthi: Goa CM

2:15 PM

UP relaxes night curfew by an hour

1:37 PM

Daily Covid cases decline for 2nd day

The decline in the daily Covid cases continued for the second consecutive day on Tuesday with 31,222 new cases registered in the last 24 hours, pushing the total cases to 33,058,843 in India as the vaccination numbers reached near 70 crores, IANS reported.

At the same time of 24 hours, India registered 290 deaths, taking the total Covid related deaths to 4,41,042. The mortality rate stands at 1.33 per cent, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family report on Tuesday.

A total of 42,942 Covid-infected patients recovered or were discharged in the last 24 hours taking the total recovery to 3,22,24,937. The Covid recovery rate was reported at 97.48 per cent.

1:19 PM

South Africa scientists say new strain slowing

South African scientists said a new variant, with a concerning number of mutations, spread at a slower rate last month than in July. The so-called C.1.2 variant accounted for just 1.5% of all virus samples sequenced in the country in August compared with 2.2% in July, Bloomberg reported quoting the Network for Genomic Surveillance South Africa.

 

1:00 PM

Scientists explain Delta's spread

Delta, the dominant Covid-19 variant in India and other countries, most likely spreads through its ability to evade neutralising antibodies and increased infectivity, according to a study published in the Nature Journal on Tuesday. An international team of researchers found that Delta is better at replicating and spreading than other variants, PTI reported.