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 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 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.
Assam reports 336 new #COVID cases, 539 discharges, and 10 deaths today.
- ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021
Active cases: 6,664
Total discharges: 5,70,847
Death toll: 5,576 pic.twitter.com/h2AAN6kYmz
West Bengal reports 561 fresh COVID cases, 686 discharges, and 8 deaths in the last 24 hours
- ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021
Active cases: 9,461
Total discharges: 15,15,161
Death toll: 18,364 pic.twitter.com/1YhpFn55XN
Haryana 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 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 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 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.
The 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 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.
Haryana Government extends COVID-induced restrictions till September 6 pic.twitter.com/4aSLUvjQlh
- ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2021
#IndiaFightsCorona:
- #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) August 22, 2021
📍Daily New Cases vis-à-vis Daily Samples Tested (As on 22nd August, 2021, Till 8:00 AM)
☑️#StaySafe and follow #COVIDAppropriateBehaviour #Unite2FightCorona #StayHomeStaySafe pic.twitter.com/8tNfPKbklQ
#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive
- Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) August 22, 2021
𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇https://t.co/dNYe4ljFkP pic.twitter.com/GrUWqyK3ew
Send Video Messages, Prevent UN General Assembly Session From Being Covid Super-Spreader: US To World LeadersAmid the surging Delta variant of Covid, US has urged world leaders to deliver their statements to the UN General Assembly's annual session next month by video, to ensure that the high-level week doesn't become a "super-spreader event"."
India Coronavirus Update: 30,948 Fresh Covid Cases In India In 24 Hours, 10% Lower Than YesterdayIndia'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."
Day 217 | India is successfully conducting the World's #LargestVaccineDrive - over 58 crore vaccines administered till now!
- MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) August 21, 2021
For more real-time updates, visit: https://t.co/RjQaXU74WY. #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/yvoVGXEUR0
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.
