This Article is From Oct 20, 2021

Coronavirus India Highlights:13,058 New Covid Cases In India, Lowest In 230 Days

Coronavirus Highlights: The country's active caseload (1,89,694) is 0.56 per cent of the overall cases logged since the start of the pandemic

Coronavirus India Highlights:13,058 New Covid Cases In India, Lowest In 230 Days

Covid-19 cases in India: The daily positivity rate stood at 1.37 per cent on Monday.

New Delhi:

India logged 13,596 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily rise in the last eight months or 230 days, the Health Ministry's data showed on Monday. 166 people have died of Covid in the last 24 hours.

The country's active caseload (1,89,694) is 0.56 per cent of the overall cases logged since the start of the pandemic, the Health Ministry said. The active caseload is also the lowest in 221 days.

The daily positivity rate, which refers to the number of people testing positive out of every 100 tests, stood at 1.37 per cent on Monday- it has been less than 3 per cent for the last 49 days.

Worldwide, over 24 crore cases have been logged; 48.98 lakh deaths have been registered.

Here are the LIVE updates on coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:

Oct 20, 2021 04:45 (IST)
Health Minister: WHO Chief Lauded India's Vaccination Efforts
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus lauded the "mammoth efforts" undertaken by the Indian government for vaccination against COVID-19. Read here.
Oct 20, 2021 00:48 (IST)
COVID-19 News: Hospitalisations Rise For Third Day In A Row In France
The number of people hospitalised for COVID-19 in France has gone up for the third day in a row on Tuesday, a trend not seen for almost two months, according to French health authorities, reported news agency Reuters. The number of hospitalisations rose by 15 people over 24 hours to 6,483. That is five times lower than the pandemic peak of 33,497 reported in November 2020. But with the reproduction rate creeping above 1.0 again, and the virus still raging in some parts of Europe including Britain, some fear a fifth wave of the pandemic in France. A reproduction rate above 1.0 indicates the pandemic is accelerating.
Oct 20, 2021 00:32 (IST)
COVID-19 India News: West Bengal Reports 726 New Cases, 9 Fresh Deaths
The COVID-19 tally in West Bengal increased to 15,81,946 on Tuesday as 726 more people tested positive for the infection, while nine fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 18,998, a health bulletin said, reported PTI. Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Nadia registered two fresh fatalities each, while one death was recorded in South 24 Parganas.

The state now has 7,428 active cases, while 15,55,520 people have been cured of the disease so far, including 705 in the last 24 hours, it said, adding that recovery rate stood at 98.33%. It has tested over 1.87 crore samples for COVID-19 thus far, including 33,212 in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the state government has decided to reimpose night curfew after Lakshmi Puja on October 21, a senior official said. The state administration had relaxed the restrictions, imposed to combat COVID-19, from October 10-20 to allow people to participate in Durga Puja celebrations.
Oct 19, 2021 23:35 (IST)
"Unprecedented" Crackdown On Free Speech During Covid Pandemic: Amnesty
Oppressive regimes around the world have used the coronavirus pandemic to crack down on critics, Amnesty International said Tuesday.

The rights monitor said there have been "unprecedented" curbs on freedom of expression since last year, and lives may even have been lost due to a lack of proper information.

"Communication channels have been targeted, social media has been censored, and media outlets have been closed down," said Rajat Khosla, Amnesty's senior director for research advocacy and policy.

"In the midst of a pandemic, journalists and health professionals have been silenced and imprisoned.
Oct 19, 2021 23:00 (IST)
Mumbai Civic Body Conducts Mobile Covid Vaccination
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday conducted a door-to-door Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Speaking to ANI, DR Sanjay Dhond, BMC Health department of Mumbai's K East, said "The aim behind this mobile vaccination drive is to focus on the areas in which the population of vaccinated people is less. We are moving on the bus to do the vaccination."

One of the beneficiaries said, "I am a homemaker I don't know how to operate mobile and book an appointment. So today, I got to know about vaccination in my locality I got the vaccine here and feeling relaxed as the fear of COVID-19 will be less now."
Oct 19, 2021 22:29 (IST)
Second Wave Of Pandemic Not Receded Yet, Third Wave Feared Post-Diwali: Maharashtra Minister
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday said the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has not receded yet in the state but at the same time conditions are not favourable to immediately trigger the third wave.

Speaking to reporters in the Nashik district, Mr Tope also said the COVID Task Force has cautioned about a third wave of the pandemic post the Diwali season.

"The second wave of the pandemic is not over yet. But there is no favourable condition for a third wave as of now. The state task force has cautioned of a third wave post the Diwali season. We are assessing the situation," he said.

Mr Tope said over nine crore people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 with at least one dose in Maharashtra and 35 per cent of them have taken both doses.
Oct 19, 2021 21:36 (IST)
Moscow Orders Fresh Virus Restrictions As Deaths Roar
Moscow's mayor on Tuesday ordered the city's first coronavirus restrictions since the summer, as Russia registered 1,015 daily COVID deaths, a new record.

At the national level, the government is considering keeping people off work for a week to reduce social contact in a bid to lower the tide of infections.

President Vladimir Putin is expected to decide on Wednesday which government measures put to him should be implemented to curb the spread of the virus across the country.

But already Tuesday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin ordered unvaccinated over-60s in the capital to work from home and extended mandatory vaccinations for service workers. Those restrictions take effect next Monday and are set to last until the end of February.

Sobyanin also told employers to move 30 percent of their staff to home working.
Oct 19, 2021 20:24 (IST)
US To Allow Covid Vaccine Booster "Mix And Match": Reports
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing to allow "mix and match" coronavirus vaccine boosting, in which people get a different additional shot to the dose they initially received, US media reported.

Citing sources familiar with the situation, the New York Times said the FDA might make the announcement on Wednesday when it is also expected to authorize boosters for the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.

A preliminary study released in the United States last week showed that people who have received the J&J vaccine may benefit from a booster dose of a different, messenger-RNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna.
Oct 19, 2021 19:02 (IST)
Boris Johnson Government Under Spotlight As Covid Cases Rise Again In UK
Britain has repeatedly trumpeted its mass vaccination programme against Covid-19, hailing its early approval of jabs as a key part of the long struggle to return to normal life.

But infection rates remain stubbornly high, contrasting sharply with its European neighbours and prompting fresh questions of the government.

For two weeks, the number of new cases has wavered between 35,000 and 40,000 a day, and on Monday nudged closer to 50,000 -- the highest since the July peak of the "Delta" variant outbreak.
Oct 19, 2021 17:28 (IST)
WHO Aims To Help Poorer Countries Access Vaccine With $10 Covid Pills
A World Health Organization-led programme to ensure poorer countries get fair access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments aim to secure antiviral drugs for patients with mild symptoms for as little as $10 per course, a draft document seen by Reuters says.

Merck & Co's experimental pill molnupiravir, likely to be one of the drugs to treat mild patients, is being developed.

The document, which outlines the goals of the access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) until September next year, says that the programme wants to deliver about one billion COVID-19 tests to poorer nations, and procure drugs to treat up to 120 million patients globally, out of about 200 million new cases it estimates in the next 12 months.
Oct 19, 2021 16:05 (IST)
Maharashtra Restaurants Allowed To Stay Open Till 12 AM, Shops Till 11 PM
The restaurants in Maharashtra will remain open till midnight and shops till 11 pm from today, with the Uddhav Thackeray government relaxing the curbs imposed due to the Covid outbreak.  Earlier both were allowed to remain open till 10 pm.

The government, however, said it was essential for restaurant staff to be fully vaccinated and insist on the same for patrons.

"In order to prevent the transmission of the Covid 19 virus, restrictions like regulating of time, scrupulous adherence to Covid appropriate behaviour, requirements of service providers as well as visitors to be fully vaccinated, restrictions on occupancy etc. have been imposed" upon various establishments, the government said.
Oct 19, 2021 14:31 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 14:22 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 14:15 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 13:21 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 13:10 (IST)
"At 99 Crores. Go For It India": Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya On 100-Crore Vaccine Milestone
India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 99 crore today, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
Oct 19, 2021 12:56 (IST)
Coronavirus Live Updates: COVID-19 vaccines may protect against other coronaviruses, says study
COVID-19 vaccines and prior coronavirus infections can provide broad immunity against other, similar coronaviruses, according to a study. The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, build a rationale for universal coronavirus vaccines that could prove useful in the face of future epidemics.

"Until our study, what hasn't been clear is if you get exposed to one coronavirus, could you have cross-protection across other coronaviruses? And we showed that is the case," said study lead author Pablo Penaloza-MacMaster, assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, US.

The three main families of coronaviruses that cause human disease include Sarbecovirus, which includes the SARS-CoV-1 strain responsible for the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), as well as SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. The other two are Embecovirus, which includes OC43, often responsible for the common cold, and Merbecovirus, which is the virus responsible for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), first reported in 2012.
Oct 19, 2021 12:47 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 12:27 (IST)
Coronavirus Live Updates: India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage exceeds 99 crores: Mansukh Mandaviya
India's cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 99 crores on Tuesday, said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

Taking to Twitter, he said, "We are at 99 crores. Go for it India, continue to rapidly march towards our milestone of 100 crore #COVID19 vaccinations."

India's COVID-19 vaccination drive commenced on January 16, 2021. Initially, the vaccination was opened for Health Care Workers (HCWs) only.
Oct 19, 2021 12:13 (IST)
Coronavirus Live Updates: Ladakh reports 3 COVID-19 cases, 5 recoverie
Ladakh recorded three fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally in the union territory to 20,881, even as the count of active cases fell to 34, officials said.

Ladakh has registered 208 Covid-related deaths -- 150 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

Five more patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals in Leh, taking the tally of recoveries to 20,639, they said. All three new cases were reported in Leh, the officials said. No daily death due to the disease was reported in Ladakh on Monday. The total number of COVID-19 active cases in Ladakh is now 34 - 33 in Leh and one in Kargil district.
Oct 19, 2021 12:05 (IST)
Coronavirus Live Updates: Puducherry logs 55 more COVID cases
Puducherry posted 55 fresh cases of coronavirus raising the total caseload to 1,27,479. The new cases of infection identified at the end of examination of 4,217 samples were spread over Puducherry 24, Karaikal 18, and Mahe 13.

The active cases were 490 of whom 94 patients were in hospitals under treatment while remaining 396 cases were in home isolation. Two more persons hailing from Puducherry succumbed to the infection raising overall toll to 1852.

Director of the Health Department G. Sriramulu said while 86 patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty four hours the overall recoveries stood at 1,25,137.

Oct 19, 2021 11:52 (IST)
Coronavirus Live Updates: Schools in Goa reopen for classes 9 to 12 with COVID-19 protocols in place
Schools in Goa reopened for students of classes 9 to 12 from Monday with all the COVID-19 norms and standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place.

Surekha Kelkar, the principal of a private school in Santa Cruz area of Goa said that the school is taking all measures to protect the students from virus.

"We have deployed staff to ensure that SOPs are in place. Proper sanitisation is being done. Currently, we are only conducting offline exams for classes 11 and 12. We have ensured that there is a time gap between exams for both classes."
Oct 19, 2021 11:34 (IST)
Coronavirus Live Updates: Over 102 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to States, UTs
Over 102 crore COVID-19 vaccines have been provided to states and union territories so far, said the Union Health Ministry.

As per information shared by the ministry, a total of 1,02,05,09,915 doses have been provided to states and union territories so far through the Central government''s free-of-cost channel and through the direct state procurement category.

The ministry in an official statement said that more than 10.42 crore balance and unutilised COVID vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered to the eligible population.

As per the ministry, balance and unutilised COVID vaccine doses amount to 10,42,38,220.

"The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country," stated the ministry.

Oct 19, 2021 11:09 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 10:58 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 10:43 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 10:34 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 10:19 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 10:12 (IST)
India's 1 Billion Vaccines Milestone Hides A Worrying Disparity
India will soon have administered 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses, but the milestone masks a worry disparity between the number of people who have been fully vaccinated and those that have had just one shot.
Oct 19, 2021 09:56 (IST)
Over 11 lakh COVID-19 tests were conducted in India in the last 24 hours
Over 11 lakh COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country in the last 24 hours, informed the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

With 11,81,314 samples tested on Monday to detect the presence of the virus, 59,31,06,188 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the country so far.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry on Monday informed that India reported 13,058 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which is the lowest in 231 days.
Oct 19, 2021 09:49 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 09:39 (IST)
Maharashtra's Thane logs 175 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths
With the addition of 175 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra''s Thane district has gone up to 5,63,556, an official said.

These new cases were reported on Monday, he said.

The virus also claimed the lives of five more people, which pushed the death toll in the district to 11,464, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent.

In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,37,547, while the death toll has reached 3,281, another official said.
Oct 19, 2021 09:26 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 08:52 (IST)
COVID-19: Day after zero death, Mumbai reports 4 new fatalities, 373 fresh cases
A day after reporting zero COVID-19 death for the first time since March 2020, Mumbai registered four fresh fatalities linked to coronavirus on Monday and 373 new cases of the infection, a civic official said.

With this, Mumbai's caseload has reached 7,51,181, while the death toll increased to 16,184, he said.

Notably, for the third day in a row, Mumbai's daily COVID-19 case count remained below the 400-mark.

On Sunday, the financial capital had not reported any fresh death due to COVID-19 for the first time since the pandemic broke out in March last year.
Oct 19, 2021 08:40 (IST)
Maharashtra Extends Restaurant, Shop Timings; Amusement Parks To Reopen
Amusement parks will be allowed to reopen from Friday while shops and restaurants will be permitted to stay open beyond 10 pm in fresh easing of Covid curbs in Maharashtra.
Oct 19, 2021 08:26 (IST)
Coronavirus: Bihar Makes Covid Test Must For Those Visiting During Diwali, Chhath
The Bihar government has made COVID-19 test mandatory for those coming from other states during Diwali and Chhath festivals, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday.
Oct 19, 2021 08:25 (IST)
Around 96% of NBA players vaccinated against Covid
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Monday that around 96 percent of players in the league have now been vaccinated against Covid-19 despite union opposition to a league-wide mandate.


Speaking to reporters on the eve of the new NBA season, which tips off on Tuesday, Silver said the number of vaccinated players had increased and was expected to go higher after the season starts.


"Roughly 96 percent of our players are vaccinated, and that number will likely tick up a bit when the season starts," Silver told reporters.
Oct 19, 2021 08:06 (IST)
Active Covid cases down to 123 in Uttar Pradesh
The Covid count declined further in Uttar Pradesh with only nine new cases recorded on Monday. The state now has 123 active Covid cases while 42 districts have zero case, the government said.
Oct 19, 2021 07:36 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 07:11 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 07:00 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 06:32 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 06:25 (IST)
First children-friendly COVID-19 vaccination centre comes up in Delhi
One of the private imaging centres in Delhi has become the first COVID-19 vaccination centre for children in India. The centre would cater to children above 2 years to 18 years and their vaccination process.

The new children-friendly COVID-19 vaccination centre has been given a catchy look and feel. The centre has been painted with cartoons and animal themes in a way that will help to reduce the injection fear among the children. It also has paintings of popular cartoons like Motu-Patlu, dinosaurs etc on the wall. This kids vaccination centre is getting a lot of praise from the residents and Children are also coming to see the centre.
Oct 19, 2021 06:10 (IST)
Oct 19, 2021 05:32 (IST)
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Kerala Reports 6,676 New COVID-19 Cases
Kerala reported 6,676 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. As per a health bulletin from the state government, 11,023 people recovered from the virus and 60 people succumbed to it in the last 24 hours. The state has 83,184 active cases and the death count has gone up to 26,925. A total of 68,668 samples were tested during the last 24 hours.
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