Covid-19 Cases in India: The recovery rate is 97.37 per cent.
New Delhi: India recorded more than 40,000 fresh COVID-19 cases, while its active caseload is more than 4,00,000 today, according to Union health ministry data.
India recorded 42,625 new coronavirus infections that pushed its tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,17,69,132 while the number of deaths climbed to 4,25,757 with 562 deaths in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases have increased to 4,04,958 and comprise 1.29 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate is 97.37 per cent, it stated. The daily positivity rate is 2.31 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.36 per cent, the ministry data stated.
Meanwhile, the pandemic is "still raging" in the country and eight states have shown a rise in the R-factor, the government said today, calling it a "significant problem".
As many as 44 districts have reported a high case positivity and the Delta-driven second wave is still not over, warned VK Paul, who heads the government's Covid task force. Eighteen districts showed an increasing trend in cases in the last four weeks, according to the government.
"Delta variant is a dominant problem. The pandemic is still raging and the second wave is persisting in our own country," Dr Paul said, expressing concern about the R-factor or the reproductive rate of a virus, which indicates how fast it is spreading.
Here are the LIVE updates on India coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:
COVID-19 India News: Free Health Insurance For Orphaned Children Aged Up To 18
Amid the ongoing pandemic, the government has decided to give free health insurance of Rs 5 lakh to children up to the age of 18 years, who were orphaned due to the pandemic, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur, according to news agency ANI. The premium will be paid by the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-Cares), he added. "As part of the steps taken to take care of children affected by COVID-19, children up to 18 years will be provided free health insurance of Rs 5 lakhs under Ayushman Bharat and its premium will be paid by PM CARES," Mr Thakur tweeted on Wednesday.
COVID-19 India News: Tamil Nadu Records 1,949 New Cases, 38 More Deaths
Tamil Nadu reported 1,949 new COVID-19 cases, 2,011 recoveries, and 38 deaths on Wednesday, said the state's Health Department in a media bulletin, according to news agency ANI. There are a total of 20,117 active cases in Tamil Nadu. The cumulative number of cases registered in the state has risen to 25,67,401. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, 25,13,087 persons have recovered from the infection while 34,197 died due to the virus.
COVID-19 India News: Meghalaya Reports 521 New Cases, 7 More DeathsMeghalaya on Wednesday reported 521 new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally in the state to 67,016, a health department official said, according to news agency PTI. The death count rose to 1,125 as seven more people succumbed to the infection during the day, Health Services Director Aman War said. Four fresh fatalities were reported from East Khasi Hills district, and one each from East Jaintia Hills, South West Garo Hills and South West Khasi Hills. Meghalaya now has 5,516 active cases, and 572 people were cured of the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 60,375, Mr War said. The state has so far conducted over 8.59 lakh sample tests for COVID-19. Altogether, 11.12 lakh people were inoculated till Tuesday with 2,07,135 of them having received both doses of the vaccine, Mr War said.
WHO wants moratorium on Covid vaccine booster shots
The WHO on Wednesday called for a moratorium on Covid-19 vaccine booster shots until at least the end of September to address the drastic inequity in dose distribution between rich and poor nations.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus urged the countries and companies controlling the supply of doses to change course immediately and prioritise less wealthy states.
The UN health agency has for months raged against the glaring and growing imbalance, branding it a moral outrage.
Tedros told a press conference that he understood why countries wanted to protect their citizens from the more transmissible Delta variant of the virus, which was first identified in India.
Maharashtra reports 6,126 new COVID-19 cases, 195 deaths
Maharashtra reported 6,126 new coronavirus positive cases and 195 deaths on Wednesday, while 7,436 patients recovered from the infection during the day, a health official said.
With this, the overall COVID-19 tally in the state climbed to 63,27,194 and death toll to 1,33,410, while the recovery count has reached 61,17,560.
There are 72,810 active infection cases in the state at present, the official said, adding that while 4,47,681 people are in home quarantine, 2,928 others are in institutional quarantine.
Maharashtra''s recovery rate now stands at 96.69 per cent and the fatality rate is 2.01 per cent.
Japan Warns Of Unprecedented Covid Spread As Cases Hit Record Amid Tokyo OlympicsJapan warned on Wednesday that coronavirus infections were surging at an unprecedented pace as new cases hit a record high in Tokyo, overshadowing the Olympics and adding to doubts over the government's handling of the pandemic.
The Delta variant was leading to a spread of infections "unseen in the past", Health Minister Norihisa Tamura said as he defended a new policy of asking patients with milder symptoms to isolate at home rather than going to hospital.
Delhi Caps Cost Of Covid RT-PCR Test At ₹ 500, Down From ₹ 800Delhi government slashed the price of RT-PCR tests - the gold standard for detecting COVID-19 - from Rs 800 to Rs 500 in the city today, according to an order issued by the health department. Earlier, people were required to pay Rs 800 for these tests.
These tests are, however, conducted for free in Delhi's government hospitals.
COVID-19 Recovered Individuals With Both Doses Of Covishield Have Higher Immunity Against Delta Variant: StudyA study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has found that Covid-19-recovered individuals with both doses of Covishield have higher immunity against the Delta variant.
The study titled ''Neutralization Of Delta Variant With Sera of Covishield Vaccines And Covid-19 Recovered Vaccinated Individuals'' have assessed the neutralising antibody (NAb) response of individuals immunised with Covishield vaccine (first dose and second dose), COVID-19 recovered individuals who were vaccinated (first dose and second dose) and breakthrough infections (due to Kappa and the Delta variant).
Delta variant has further mutated to Delta plus also known as AY.1.
China Restricts Overseas Travel To Curb COVID-19 OutbreakBeijing announced tighter restrictions on overseas travel for its citizens Wednesday in response to rising coronavirus cases in China.
Immigration authorities said they would temporarily "not be issuing ordinary passports and other entry-exit documents" for non-essential reasons.
Kerala Government Relaxes Lockdown Curbs; Shops To Stay Open 6 DaysThe Kerala government on Wednesday announced an easing of the lockdown curbs, imposed in the state in view of the spread of COVID-19.
Health Minister Veena George, who made a statement in this regard in the state Assembly, said it would be a triple lockdown for shops located in an area, where over 10 of the 1000 people of the population are infected in a week.
Central Teams Recommend Tracing, Containment To Overcome Kerala Covid CrisisThe Central multi-disciplinary teams that recently visited Kerala to review the COVID-19 situation in the state emphasised the need for enhancing testing, contact tracing, enforcing containment measures and establishment of adequate healthcare infrastructure to overcome the crisis.
"Proper hospital infrastructure like ICU and ventilator beds need to be augmented on an urgent basis. Paediatric Care facilities especially paediatric ICU beds also need to be augmented," they pointed out.
Kerala Follows ICMR, WHO Guidelines To Report Covid Deaths: Health MinisterThe Kerala government is following the ICMR and WHO guidelines to report covid deaths in the state, Veena George Kerala Health Minister said on Tuesday in the Assembly over the allegations of discrepancies in covid related deaths across the state.
A total of 13,325 covid deaths has been reported in the state till June 15, 2021, said Kerala health minister while replying to the questions of MLAs' in the Assembly.
RT-PCR test result is mandatory to record COVID-19 deaths and it is upon the doctor concerned who treated the covid patient to decide whether the death is due to COVID-19 or not, the health minister told the Assembly.
UP Vaccinates Over 26 Lakh People In A Day, Crosses 5 Crore Doses OverallThe Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's Office today said a record 26,03,631 people had been vaccinated against Covid today. Citing CO-WIN data, it tweeted that the state had by now inoculated over 5.13 crore people overall.
Tweeting a screen shot of the Co-WIN dashboard with the data, Yogi Adityanath's office said, "Under the guidance of the Respected Prime Minister and the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Maharaj, the mega Covid vaccination drive was actively continuing."
Covid Shots Targeting Delta May Be Needed, Researchers SayVaccines targeting the highly transmissible delta variant may now be needed, given its ability to infect people with fading immunity and potentially increased severity, researchers leading a large English study of Covid shots said.
A third wave of English cases has been driven by the delta strain among both unvaccinated people -- especially those aged 12 to 24 -- as well as some people who had received Covid shots, according to authors of a study of samples from about 98,000 people in England. The effectiveness of vaccines at stopping infection during the study period fell to 49%, the researchers estimated, down from 64% in a month earlier. Vaccines' protection against development of Covid symptoms was 59%, down from 83%.
"Development of vaccines against delta may be warranted," in the light of evidence that the strain's spike protein has mutated to a point where antibodies raised by current shots are becoming less effective, the researchers said.
Full US approval for Pfizer vaccine expected by early September: report
The US drug regulator is set to fully approve the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine by early next month, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The Food and Drug Administration has set an "unofficial deadline" of the September 6 Labor Day holiday "or sooner" to give the anti-Covid shot the final green light, the newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the plan.
The vaccine is currently being administered via an emergency use authorization that was granted in December.
The FDA had said in a statement last week that granting the Pfizer vaccine final approval was one of the agency's highest priorities and anticipated being finished with the final review soon.
Full approval could boost vaccine-hesitant Americans' confidence in getting the shot as the ultra-contagious Delta variant sweeps through the country, driving daily case counts to levels not seen since the winter.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: 319 new COVID-19 cases push Arunachal Pradesh's tally to 48,884
Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 caseload rose to 48,884 as 319 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior health department official said here on Wednesday.
The COVID-19 death toll in the northeastern state remained at 234, as no fresh casualty was reported in the last 24 hours, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.
The Capital Complex Region continued to remain at the top of the list of fresh infections with 88 new cases, followed by Papumpare (44), Lower Subansiri (35), East Siang (19), Lohit (16), Kamle and Tawang with 13 cases each, West Kameng and Namsai with 12 cases each and East Kameng (9).
Fresh cases were also reported from Upper Subansiri, West Siang, Leparada, Siang, Lower Dibang Valley, Lower Siang, Anjaw, Changlang, Tirap, Upper Siang, Shi-Yomi, Pakke Kessang, Longding and Kra Daadi districts, the official said.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Andaman and Nicobar Islands reports only one new COVID-19 cases
Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported only one new COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, which pushed the tally in the union territory to 7,540, a health official said on Wednesday.
The archipelago now has six active COVID-19 cases and all six patients are in the South Andaman district. The other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are now COVID-19 free, the official said.
One more person recuperated from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 7,405, the official said.
The COVID-19 death toll in the union territory remained at 129 as no fresh fatality due to the disease was reported in the last 24 hours.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: China Mass Testing Shows Covid Cases At 6-Month High
China on Wednesday reported its highest daily number of local coronavirus cases in months as mass testing and contact tracing campaigns uncovered a trail of Delta variant infections.
Health authorities reported 71 domestic cases on Wednesday, the highest since January, as China battles its largest outbreak in months by testing entire cities and locking down millions.
The official results of those tests have revealed a low caseload despite the outbreak spreading to dozens of major cities.
Beijing had previously boasted of its success in crushing Covid-19, allowing the economy to rebound and normal life to return while swathes of the globe struggled to douse a pandemic that has killed more than four million people worldwide.
Just In| 42,625 fresh coronavirus cases in India, nearly 40 per cent higher than yesterday
COVID Update: Ladakh records 20 coronavirus cases in a day
Ladakh has recorded a sudden increase in coronavirus cases with 20 fresh infections being reported in a day, officials said.
All the 20 cases, reported on Tuesday, were from Leh.
The fresh infections took the case tally in the union territory to 20,365 and the number of active cases stood at 71 -- four in Kargil and 67 in Leh -- officials said.
Ladakh has registered 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. A total of 20,087 patients have recovered till date.
COVID-19 Latest News: Tokyo Reports Over 3,700 New Cases Amid Olympics 2020
Tokyo on Tuesday reported 3,709 new cases of coronavirus amid Olympics 2020 in the city while 18 more people associated with Tokyo Olympics have been tested positive, reported news agency ANI. New cases had topped 3,000 for five consecutive days in Tokyo and doctors have criticised the government's response to the increasing cases, Kyodo News reported. Overall 12,017 new cases have been reported in the country, which is the second-highest single-day record.