New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded over 2.50 lakh, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,60,31,991 according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The COVID-19 active caseload is 30,27,925 which now comprises 11.63 per cent of the total infections.
The recovery rate is 87.25 per cent, the data stated.
A total of 2,59,551 new infections were registered in a day, while the death count increased to 2,91,331 with 4,209 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Meanwhile, RT-PCR tests - widely believed to be the most accurate method to detect COVID-19 - will be cut to 40 per cent of total tests by the end of next month, far from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to raise it to 70 per cent, the government announced on Thursday.
Instead, the government will depend up to 60 per cent on the less reliable antigen tests - in a significant departure from its earlier target - as it aims to double its testing capacity to 45 lakh per day by June end.
The announcement comes just two months after PM Modi advised states that RT-PCR should be 70 per cent of all tests and said there was "no pressure" if positive numbers were high.
Here are the Live Updates on India Coronavirus (Covid-19 Cases) Cases:
Tech-based solutions and contributions of several individuals saw Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC), a think-tank of the Delhi government, deliver over 2,300 oxygen concentrators to several government hospitals here, a statement said.
The Dialogue and Development Commission has been coordinating with donors wanting to support the Delhi government's COVID-19 response amid the second wave of the pandemic, it said.
"Following the appeal of Hon'ble CM Arvind Kejriwal to all sections of the society to come forward and support Delhi government's efforts to fight coronavirus, several donors have come forward to give critical medical supplies to Delhi government hospitals," Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of DDC, said in the statement.
The information technology (IT) ministry has written to all social media companies asking them to take down any content that refers to an "Indian variant" of the coronavirus, according to a letter issued on Friday which was seen by Reuters.
The World Health Organization said on May 11 that the coronavirus variant B.1.617, first identified in India last year, was being classified as a variant of global concern.
The government a day later issued a statement saying media reports using the term "Indian Variant" were without any basis, saying the WHO had classified the variant as just B.1.617. Read
The beneficiaries include 97,37,237 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 66,89,893 HCWs who have taken the second dose. It also includes 1,48,63,770 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose and 83,05,152 FLWs who have taken the second dose.
The death count due to COVID-19 in Punjab increased to 12,888 with 172 more fatalities being reported on Friday, according to a health bulletin. Besides, 5,278 fresh cases pushed the state's infection tally to 5,28,676, it showed.
Meanwhile, 8,652 people recovered from the infection. Currently, there are 63,470 active cases in the state, which is a drop from Thursday's 67,041, the bulletin showed. The positivity rate in the state has also dropped from 7.03 per cent on Thursday to 6.92 per cent, it said.
With 8,652 recoveries, the number of cured persons reached 4,52,318.
Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma on Friday said the state has reported about 700 cases of Black Fungus infection among the cured COVID-19 patients. He said the state government has made it a notifiable disease and declared it an epidemic.
A protocol has been fixed for the treatment of this disease, Mr Sharma said. Under the protocol, the quantity of steroids being given in the treatment of Covid-19 has also been asked to be reduced and it should be given only as much as required.
Mr Sharma said the government has issued a rate list for the treatment of this disease in private hospitals. A separate wing has been set up at the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur for its treatment.
We have about 200 cases (Black Fungus) that have been reported till date officially from all dists. We are in the processing of obtaining required medicine. I am in constant touch with the Union Minister Sadananda Gowda, who assured me he'll do his best: Karnataka Health Minister pic.twitter.com/yvcTw7HENf
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
#NDTVExclusive | "Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given Bharat Biotech permission to start trials for the children's vaccine. We are ready to start it in June": Dr Suchitra Ella (@SuchitraElla), Joint MD, Bharat Biotech, on #COVID19Vaccine for children@FollowCII pic.twitter.com/0XcjwXxNT0
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
Gujarat reports 4251 new #COVID19 cases, 8783 recoveries and 65 deaths in the last 24 hours.
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Total cases 7,80,471
Total recoveries 6,86,581
Death toll 9469
Active cases 84,421
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh touched 7,57,119 with 4,384 fresh infection on Friday, according to a state health department official. Besides, 79 fatalities have pushed the death count to 7,394. The recoveries outnumbered the fresh cases, bringing the active cases count below the 70,000-mark to 67,625. The official said that with the addition of 9,405 discharges in the last 24 hours, the count of recoveries in the state has reached 6,82,100.
Telangana reports 3464 new #COVID19 cases, 4801 recoveries and 25 deaths in the last 24 hours.
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Total cases 5,47,727
Total recoveries 5,00,247
Death toll 3085
Active cases 44,395 pic.twitter.com/h34Y4UhJ8Z
#NDTVExclusive | Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw), Chairperson, Biocon, on challenges faced by India to scale up #COVID19 vaccination@FollowCII pic.twitter.com/d6QN4klEKJ
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
#NDTVExclusive | Dr Suchitra Ella (@SuchitraElla), Joint MD, Bharat Biotech, on the vaccine manufacturer's plans to scale up #COVID19 vaccination @FollowCII pic.twitter.com/Z1wJjXnUYX
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
The COVID-19 tally in Manipur increased to 42,565 with 656 more people testing positive for the virus on Friday, according to an official. The state also reported 15 new fatalities that pushed the cumulative death count to 661. At least 676 people recovered from the disease on Friday, taking the total number of recoveries to 35,606. The current recovery rate is 83.65 per cent.
There are currently 6,298 active cases in the state, the official said, adding that Manipur has so far tested 6,75,645 samples for COVID-19. So far, 3,35,396 people have been vaccinated in Manipur, he added.
Karnataka on Friday reported a drop in its daily COVID-19 fatalities to 353 while 32,218 fresh cases pushed its total count to 23,67,742, according to the state's health department. The cumulative death count stands at 24,207. On Friday, 52,581 recovered patients were discharged, which pushed the total recoveries to 18,29,276. The fatalities reported in the state over the last three days were 548, 468 and 525 respectively. Out of the new cases, Bengaluru Urban alone reported 9,591 cases. It also reported 26,956 discharges on Friday. Currently, there are 5,14,238 active cases in the state.
Maharashtra reports 29,644 new #COVID19 cases, 44,493 recoveries and 555 deaths in the last 24 hours.
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Total cases 55,27,092
Total recoveries 50,70,801
Death toll 86,618
Active cases 3,67,121 pic.twitter.com/yFGswhT6sq
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 3,848 fresh COVID cases and 43 related fatalities on Friday, which pushed its cumulative count to 2,63,905 cases and 3,465 deaths, according to the officials. While Jammu division reported 1,442 of the total 3,848 fresh cases, Kashmir division reported 2,406, they said. Srinagar recorded the highest number of cases (598), followed by Jammu (401) and Budgam (344), said the officials. Currently, there are 49,893 active cases in the Union territory. The total number of recoveries stands at 2,10,547.
Kerala reported 29,673 #COVID19 cases, 41,032 recoveries and 142 deaths today. Total recoveries stand at 19,79,919, death toll 6994. Active cases in the state is 3,06,346. A total of 1,33,558 samples were tested during the last 24 hours: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan pic.twitter.com/iqSnGmzjpI
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Two engineering students in New Delhi have developed an application that sends a notification to the user when slots become available on the CoWIN portal for coronavirus vaccination. The Telegram bot, "CoWIN alerts", has been developed by Paras Mehan and Rohan Rajpal, students of Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) in Delhi. It was launched in May and has amassed more than 40,000 users since.
According to Mr Mehan, the users have to provide their district name or pincode and their age to avail the information. "The bot then updates the person via notification once the slot is made available on the CoWIN portal. The message has information on which centre has the available slots, the number of slots available, and the date of availability," he said.
Meghalaya reported 828 new COVID-19 cases and 25 related fatalities on Friday, which pushed it total count to 27,755 cases and 414 deaths, according to a senior Health department official. There are currently 6,861 active cases in the state, said Health Services Director Aman War, adding that 419 new recoveries have increased the total number of cured people to 20,480. Mr War said the state has so far tested 5.98 lakh samples for COVID-19. He said a total of 4.33 lakh people have been inoculated in the state of which over 83,000 people have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID19 | 20,937 new cases, 104 deaths reported in Andhra Pradesh in the past 24 hours; Total number of cases in the state is 15,42,079 including 2,09,156 active cases.
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Rajasthan reports 6225 new #COVID19 cases, 18,264 recoveries and 129 deaths in the last 24 hours.
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Total cases 9,03,418
Total recoveries 7,64,137
Death toll 7475
Active cases 1,31,806 pic.twitter.com/2isgpoep6L
Sikkim recorded 317 new COVID-19 cases, raising the cumulative tally to 12,521, while the death count climbed to 220 after three more patients succumbed to the virus, according to the health department's Friday bulletin. The state now has 3,175 active cases. The bulletin said 8,916 people have so far recovered from the disease. The fresh cases include 151 from East Sikkim, South Sikkim (90) and West Sikkim (74). Sikkim has so far tested 1,08,170 samples for COVID, the bulletin said.
#Lockdown in the state will be extended till May 30th. The triple lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Thrissur will be withdrawn from tomorrow as the test positivity rate and active case load have come down. Triple lockdown in Malappuram will continue: #Kerala CM
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
(ANI) pic.twitter.com/3lSeMETqnd
COVID19 | Goa reports 1,625 new cases, 30 deaths today; active cases rise to 19,328. Recovery rate at 84.89% pic.twitter.com/pwFeNMd7SP
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
Delhi recorded 3,009 fresh cases of COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, its lowest daily count since April 1 this year. Besides, 252 new COVID deaths were also reported during the one-day period, which increased the national capital's cumulative death count to 22,831. Currently, Delhi has 35,683 active cases. The test positivity rate has dropped to 4.76 per cent over the last 24 hours. This is the first time since April 4 that Delhi's positivity rate has gone below 5 per cent.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Friday said Post-Covid Care Centres "Umang" will be started in all major government hospitals in the state from Monday for patients who have recovered from the infection but are still facing some problems.
He said doctors at these special centres advise necessary treatment to the recovered patients suffering from post-Covid complications.
For these special clinics, a dedicated room will be reserved in all government hospitals where doctors, including psychologists, physiotherapists and yoga teachers will be on duty, he said.
Andhra Pradesh: Thousands throng to Nellore village for 'miracle cure'
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
NDTV's Uma Sudhir reports#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/uGh5Plguck
I've requested (Union Health Minister) that Centre should run the #vaccination drive. If it is about money, then Centre may ask states for it but vaccines should be procured by one platform. We've also provided him info on vaccine wastage: Chhattisgarh Health Minister
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
(ANI) pic.twitter.com/0nJXbGfsHJ
Black Fungus will be declared a notifiable disease in Uttar Pradesh under the Epidemic Diseases Act, said a senior official. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has issued directions in this regard. This comes a day after the Union government urged states and Union territories to make Mucormycosis, known as Black Fungus, a notifiable disease under the Act, stating that the infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality among COVID-19 patients. A notifiable disease is required by law to be reported to the government authorities.
Uttar Pradesh on Friday reported 7,735 fresh COVID-19 cases, besides 17,668 recoveries and 172 deaths in the last 24 hours. Currently, there are 1,06,276 active cases in the state while the death count has reached 18,760.
Drive through #COVID19 vaccination facility launched in #Ghaziabad for people aged 45 years and above
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
Since people will be in their vehicles, social distancing norms will be followed. People can drive-in at centre without online registration: Abhishek Singh, Organiser
(ANI) pic.twitter.com/q6QwPXFRGV
Haryana: Panchkula administration sets up drive-through COVID19 vaccination center at Parade Ground, Sector 5 pic.twitter.com/FsrdAlEVVy
- ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021
#WATCH | Telangana: Suryapet Police uses drone cameras for patrolling, to ensure proper implementation of #COVID19 lockdown regulations. A Police siren has been attached to the drones
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
(Video: ANI) pic.twitter.com/zbA7eTO4KF
In June, the ministry said, 3,15,000 vials will be imported. Along with the domestic supply, the countrywide availability of Amphotericin-B will be enhanced to 5,70,114 vials in June, it added.
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury (@adhirrcinc) writes to the PM requesting him to direct funding from PM CARES Fund for setting up a 500-bed makeshift DRDO Covid Hospital for patients in Murshidabad#COVID19
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
(ANI) pic.twitter.com/wTzyK0G0hK
Presently, there are over 300 cases of black fungus in Pune, including many outsiders (residents of other districts). If there are 300 patients, around 1800 injections a day are needed and that is not available in required number: Maharashtra Deputy CM#BlackFungus
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
(ANI) pic.twitter.com/utPfORLfnm
#COVID19 | Amid rising cases of #BlackFungus, is it safe for those working in the agricultural sector who are exposed to soil, manure?
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
Dr Arvinder Soin (@ArvinderSoin), Chairman, Medanta Liver Transplant Institue explains pic.twitter.com/VGHgvWQMhO
- Oxygen plants have been started, the supply of oxygen concentrators and ventilators have also happened in all of Purvanchal, which includes Varanasi.
- The pace at which work has happened in Varanasi is noteworthy and an example for all.
- When I was elected by the people of Kashi to represent them as their MP, I had come to thank each and every resident of Kashi, but instead of giving anything to them on day 1, I instead, asked them for something - that Kashi be made swachh (clean). And the people have done their bit by making sincere efforts in this regard.
- Similarly, they have cooperated at every step in our fight against Covid, and I would like to thank each and every person in Varanasi to make sincere efforts to battle this pandemic.
- Kashi has dedicated itself to helping in this time of need. People are helping each other and even those who reside elsewhere by helping with supplies.
- But the fight against Covid is not over yet. We must not let our guard down. We must remember the saying - 'Jahan bimaar, wahin upchaar' (wherever the sick, there will be treatment).
Watch | Tamil Nadu reported 35,579 new #COVID19 cases, over 6,000 fresh cases in Chennai. NDTV's Sam Daniel brings in more details pic.twitter.com/mwROBbHRFg
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
#COVID19 | Vaccinations In India Slide Further, 7-Day Average Lowest In 2 Months
- NDTV (@ndtv) May 21, 2021
Read more: https://t.co/Bhj4n2XiSN pic.twitter.com/XyDWH12SbB
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said there are about 200 cases of black fungus in the national capital and said the government has decided to set up centres to treat the condition in three state-run hospitals.
The government, he said, will also ensure adequate supply of drugs to treat this condition and spread awareness on how to prevent it.
"As per reports coming in from hospitals, there are about 200 cases of black fungus in Delhi," he told the media today.
The Chief Minister today chaired a meeting on the disease with officials and experts.
Read https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/three-delhi-hospitals-to-get-centres-to-treat-black-fungus-disease-2445695
