Coronavirus Live Updates: India recorded 34,457 Covid cases on Saturday.
Delhi reported zero daily deaths due to COVID-19 for the third consecutive day on Sunday and 24 new cases of the infection, while the positivity rate stood at 0.04 per cent, according to the health department, reported news agency PTI.
This is the 13th time since the beginning of the second wave of the pandemic that the national capital has logged zero fatality due to the disease in a day.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 4,141 new coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, which took its infection count to 64,24,651, while 145 deaths pushed the toll to 1,35,962, the health department said.
India on Sunday reported 30,948 new cases of COVID-19 and 403 deaths, according to the Union health ministry. The active caseload in the country now stands at 3,53,398, lowest in 152 days. The active cases account for 1.09% of total cases, lowest since March 2020. India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has reached 58 crore with 52,23,612 vaccine doses administered over the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Zydus Cadila, whose Covid vaccine ZyCoV-D for adults and children aged 12 years and above got approval yesterday, said Saturday it hopes to produce one crore doses per month by October.
Here are LIVE Updates on Coronavirus Cases:
Australia's PM Defends Lockdown Strategy Until Majority Vaccinated
Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday defended the country's lockdown strategy to combat coronavirus outbreaks until at least 70% of the population is fully vaccinated.
On Saturday, Australian police arrested hundreds of people during anti-lockdown demonstrations in Sydney and Melbourne, capitals of the country's two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, that are under a strict lockdown.
The federal government announced late last month a plan that envisaged lockdowns as a key strategy to quell outbreaks until 70% percent of the population gets vaccinated and a gradual re-opening of Australia's borders when that number reaches 80%.
New Zealand Queries Virus Approach As Delta Outbreak Grows
New Zealand conceded its ambitious "Covid zero" elimination strategy may no longer be viable Sunday, as an outbreak of the virulent Delta variant continued to spread.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins reported a further 21 cases in a virus cluster that emerged in Auckland last week, ending a six-month run of no local cases and sparking a national lockdown.
Hipkins said Delta's highly transmissible nature was making this outbreak more difficult to contain than others, raising "big questions" about the elimination strategy.
Haryana Reports 1 Death, 16 Fresh CasesHaryana on Sunday reported one COVID-19 related death, taking the cumulative count to 9,667 and 16 fresh infections pushed the total case count to 7,70,347.
According to the health department's daily bulletin, the latest death was reported from Kaithal district.
Of the fresh cases, six were from Gurugram and three from Sirsa district.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Launches Sputnik V VaccineUttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday launched anti-Covid Sputnik V vaccine in the state.
On the first day, 100 people got the dose of the Russia-manufactured vaccine.
Maharashtra Records 4,141 New cases, 145 deaths In 24 HoursMaharashtra reported 4,141 new coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, which took its infection count to 64,24,651, while 145 deaths pushed the toll to 1,35,962, the health department said.
A total of 4,780 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day. With this, the overall recovery count of the state grew to 62,31,999, it said in a statement.
Maharashtra's recovery rate is 97 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.11 per cent.
Kerala Records 10,402 New COVID-19 Cases In Last 24 HoursKerala reported 10,402 COVID-19 positive cases and 66 related deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of those affected in the state by the viral infection to 38,14,305, reported PTI.
State Health Minister Veena George said 63,406 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 16.41 per cent. Till now, 3.02 crore samples have been tested in the state.
Among the districts, Malappuram reported the highest number of cases today at 1,577, followed by Kozhikode with 1,376 and Palakkad 1,133.
UK Rolls Out New Antibody Test Programme For COVID-19 PositivesThe UK government on Sunday announced the rollout of a new nationwide antibody surveillance programme, which will make free home antibody tests available for up to 8,000 COVID-positive people a day.
The UK Health Security Agency will offer these finger-prick tests to help improve the understanding of immunity against COVID-19 from vaccination and infection.
Under the scheme, from Tuesday, anyone aged over 18 will be able to opt in to take part when booking a PCR COVID-19 test through NHS Test and Trace system.
New Zealand Queries Virus Approach As Delta Outbreak GrowsNew Zealand conceded its ambitious "Covid zero" elimination strategy may no longer be viable Sunday, as an outbreak of the virulent Delta variant continued to spread.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins reported a further 21 cases in a virus cluster that emerged in Auckland last week, ending a six-month run of no local cases and sparking a national lockdown.
Active COVID-19 cases take further dip in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh reported 1,085 fresh cases of coronavirus, 1,541 recoveries and eight deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday.
Consequently, the state's COVID-19 chart now showed a gross of 20,02,340 positives, 19,73,940 recoveries and 13,723 deaths.
The latest bulletin said number of active cases dropped below the 15,000-mark to 14,677.
In 24 hours, the number of fresh cases ranged from 10 to 137 in all districts of the state.
Delhi reports 24 COVID-19 cases, zero deaths; positivity rate stands at 0.04 per cent: Health bulletin
Thailand reports 19,014 new COVID-19 cases
Thailand logged 19,014 new cases of COVID-19 along with 233 more fatalities, the Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) said on Sunday.
Since the pandemic first hit the country early last year, Thailand has had 1,049,295 infections, 839,855 of whom have recovered, while the death toll stands at 9,320, according to the CCSA.
60 COVID-19 cases in Puducherry, no fresh fatalities
Puducherry logged 60 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the overall tally to 1,22,892, while the number of deaths remained at 1,808 with no fresh fatalities being reported.
Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases, with 121 people being discharged, taking the total number of those cured to 1,20,237.
The new cases were identified after the examination of 3,566 samples, the Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said.
Will You Need A Covid Booster Shot After 2 Doses? What AIIMS Chief Says
India does not have enough data right now on the need for a third COVID-19 vaccine shot, called a booster shot, to increase protection against the coronavirus but more information is likely to be available by early next year, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria said on Saturday.
Even as several countries, including the US, UK and Israel, are planning on administering booster shots to fight the coronavirus after different studies showed that a third dose of their vaccines led to higher levels of protective antibodies, Dr Guleria said the data in India does not indicate that boosters are needed at present. (Read full story
here)
India's weekly positivity rate below 3 per cent for 58 days now
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at two per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 58 days, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,16,36,469, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
India Covid updates: Active Cases Lowest In 152 Days
The active cases have declined to 3,53,398, the lowest in 152 days, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 97.57 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the health ministry said.
A reduction of 7,942 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
30,948 Fresh Covid Cases In India In 24 Hours, 10% Lower Than Yesterday
India's Covid chart continued to show improvement today, with the country recording 30,948 cases, a drop of 10.18 per cent from yesterday. About 403 deaths were recorded during the period, according to the Health Ministry.
Will You Need A Covid Booster Shot After 2 Doses? What AIIMS Chief Says
India does not have enough data right now on the need for a third COVID-19 vaccine shot, called a booster shot, to increase protection against the coronavirus but more information is likely to be available by early next year, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria said on Saturday.
Even as several countries, including the US, UK and Israel, are planning on administering booster shots to fight the coronavirus after different studies showed that a third dose of their vaccines led to higher levels of protective antibodies, Dr Guleria said the data in India does not indicate that boosters are needed at present.