Covid LIVE: WHO chief urges halt to booster shots for rest of the year

Covid live updates: India says it had given 700 million vaccine doses by Tuesday, with 76% of its population getting first of two shots.

1:49 PM

Cabinet briefing by Piyush Goyal, Anurag Thakur

1:02 PM

Cannot order door-to-door Covid vaccination in this diverse country, or just scrap policy: SC

Looking at the diverse conditions of the country, door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination is not feasible and it cannot pass a general direction to just scrap the existing policy, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

 

The top court, which refused to entertain a plea of a lawyers' body seeking door-to-door Covid-19 jab for the disabled and people belonging to weaker sections of society, said the vaccination drive is already in progress and over 60 per cent of the population has been administered the first dose.

12:53 PM

Ganpati festival: Mumbai civic body bans physical darshan, restricts participation in processions

The Mumbai civic body has issued fresh guidelines for the Ganpati festival beginning from Friday and has banned physical darshan for devotees at public pandals as well as imposed restrictions on the number of participants in processions during the celebrations.

 

For bringing the idols of the deity and during their immersion, there will not be more than 10 people in the processions of public mandals and not more than five for the household Ganpatis, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the guidelines issued on Tuesday.

12:37 PM

Puducherry reports 125 new Covid-19 cases

Puducherry registered 125 fresh cases of coronavirus on Wednesday taking the over all case count to 1,24,436.

 

The new cases identified at the end of examination of 5,156 samples were spread over Puducherry 80, Karaikal 23, Yanam 7 and Mahe 15.

12:21 PM

Courts can't presume that all Covid deaths during second wave were due to negligence: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that courts cannot presume that all deaths due to Covid-19 in the second wave of the pandemic were due to negligence as it refused to entertain a plea seeking compensation for the kin of the victims by treating it as medical negligence.

 

A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli asked the petitioner Deepak Raj Singh to approach the competent authorities with his suggestions.

12:15 PM

No public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi in Delhi

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has said that Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at public places will not be allowed in the national capital in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

In an order issued on Tuesday, the DDMA said that district magistrates and deputy commissioners of police will ensure that idols of Lord Ganesha are not set up in a tent or pandal. Further, it should be ensured that crowds do not gather at any religious or social place.

12:12 PM

Recoveries surpass fresh Covid-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh

Single-day recoveries outnumbered fresh Covid-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday as 88 more people recuperated from the disease while 66 new infections were registered, a health department official said.

 

The new cases pushed the tally in the northeastern state to 53,474.

 

As many as 52,595 people have recovered from the disease thus far, he said.

11:02 AM

Stalin's healthcare scheme to be extended to whole of TN

The Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on August 5 at Krishnagiri district will be extended to the whole of the state by the year's end.

 

The office of the Chief Minister said in a statement on Tuesday that the scheme is currently in service at Madurai, Coimbatore, Salem, Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Tirunelveli, and Chennai districts.

11:01 AM

88 oxygen generation plants functional in MP: CM

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said 88 oxygen generation plants, with a collective capacity to generate over 45,000 litres of oxygen per minute, have become operational in the state.

 

Overall, 190 oxygen plants will become operational by the end of this month, Chouhan said in an official statement late Tuesday evening.

 

The deficiencies seen in the health infrastructure during the second wave of Covid-19 are being addressed on a priority basis. The most important of these shortcomings was the availability of medical oxygen, the CM said

10:25 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 221.8 mn

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 221.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.58 million and vaccinations soared to over 5.52 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Wednesday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload is 221,868,505, death toll stands at 4,585,508 and vaccination tally rises to 5,527,333,621.

10:11 AM

Changes in plasma, immune cells linked to Covid-19 severity: Study

Covid-19 patients have differing immune responses that lead to disease outcomes ranging from asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection to death.

 

After examining the blood samples from nearly 200 Covid-19 patients, researchers have uncovered underlying metabolic changes that regulate how immune cells react to the disease.

 

These changes are associated with disease severity and could be used to predict patient survival. The findings were published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

9:40 AM

India reports 37,875 new coronavirus cases

9:27 AM

Maha: Thane logs 253 new Covid-19 cases, 4 more deaths

Thane has reported 253 fresh Covid-19 cases, raising the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,53,366, an official said on Wednesday.

 

These new cases were recorded on Tuesday, he said.

 

Four more people also succumbed to the viral infection, pushing the death toll in the district to 11,326, he said, adding that the Covid-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.04 per cent.

9:04 AM

Haryana launches 3rd serological survey

Haryana has launched the third round of Covid-19 serological survey with the prevalence rate of 14.8 per cent as per the last round. For the first time, children above the age of six will be covered.

 

Health Minister Anil Vij said the first round of sero survey conducted in August 2020 showed eight per cent prevalence of infection, while the second round in October had 14.8 per cent.

9:00 AM

Narayan Rane slams Maharashtra CM over coronavirus handling

Union minister Narayan Rane on Tuesday criticised Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and said the "third wave" exists only in the state.