Coronavirus Updates: 2,59,551 Fresh COVID-19 Cases In India

Delhi Goverment Think-Tank Gets Over 2,300 Oxygen Concentrators Through Donations
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.

Remove "Indian Variant" References, Centre To Social Media Firms: Report
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

Over 19.32 Crore Covid Vaccine Doses Administered In India: Government

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.

Punjab Reports 172 New Covid Deaths, 5,278 Fresh Cases
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.

700 Black Fungus Cases Reported In Rajasthan: Health Minister
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.

Madhya Pradesh Reports 4,384 New Covid Cases, 79 Deaths
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.

Manipur Reports 656 Fresh Covid Cases, 15 New Fatalities

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 Adds 32,218 Fresh COVID-19 Cases; Fatalities Drop To 353
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.

Jammu And Kashmir Records 3,848 Fresh COVID-19 Cases, 43 Deaths
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.

Delhi Students Develop Telegram Bot That Notifies Available Vaccine Slots

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 Reports 828 New COVID-19 Cases, 25 Deaths
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.