Coronavirus Cases India: The number of active cases has declined to 2,01,632, the lowest in 218 days
India reported 15,981 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours 5.7% lower than yesterday. 166 deaths were also recorded in the country due to coronavirus, which took the total death count to 4,51,980.
The number of active Covid cases has declined to 2,01,632, the lowest in 218 days. The national recovery rate was at 98.07 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. Active cases account for 0.59 per cent of the total cases, the lowest since March last year.
In a day, the active COVID-19 caseload declined by 2,046. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,33,99,961, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 per cent.
As many as 9,23,003 tests were conducted on Friday, taking the cumulative tests conducted so far for the detection of COVID-19 in the country to 58,98,35,258.
Over 97.23 crore Covid vaccine doses have been administered in the country till now under the nationwide vaccination drive.
Here are the Highlights on coronavirus cases:
Pfizer Submits Data For Approval Of Covid Jab For Ages 5 To 11 In EuropePfizer and BioNTech said Friday they had submitted data to the EU's medicines watchdog for the approval of their coronavirus vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, following a similar step in the United States.
The vaccine makers announced last month that trial results had shown their jab was safe and created a "robust" immune response in that age group.
US pharma giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech said they had submitted data from their study involving 2,268 children ages five to 11 to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) with a view to securing "Conditional Marketing Authorisation in the European Union".
World Bank Chief Lauds India's Successful COVID-19 Vaccination CampaignWorld Bank President David Malpass on Saturday congratulated India on a successful vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic as he met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and thanked her for India's international role in vaccine production and distribution.
In a meeting with Ms Sitharaman in Washington, Malpass reaffirmed the Washington-based international financial institution's strong commitment to India across all World Bank Group entities, including the International Finance Corporation and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.
2021 Covid Outbreak In Delhi Shows Herd Immunity Against Delta Variant Difficult: StudyThe severe outbreak of COVID-19 in Delhi this year showed that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 can infect previously exposed people through a different variant of the coronavirus, highlighting the challenges of reaching herd immunity against the variant, according to an international team of scientists.
The study, published in the journal Science on Thursday, also found that the Delta variant was between 30-70 per cent more transmissible than previous SARS-CoV-2 lineages in Delhi.
Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in Delhi in March last year, the city experienced multiple outbreaks, in June, September and November 2020.
Covid: Delhi records zero death, 21 new cases; positivity rate 0.04 per centDelhi recorded zero death due to COVID-19 and 21 fresh cases on Saturday with a positivity rate of 0.04 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
Two fatalities due to COVID-19 have been recorded so far this month in Delhi, on October 2 and 10, according to official data.
Only five Covid-related fatalities were reported last month, one each on September 7, 16 and 17, and two on September 28, according to official figures.
The death count due to coronavirus in Delhi stands at 25,089.
On Saturday, 21 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.04 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin.
On Friday, 26 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.04 per cent.
On Thursday, 28 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.05 per cent, according to official data.
US Panel Recommends Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Booster With 2-Month GapA high level panel of US medical experts voted unanimously Friday to recommend authorizing a second shot of the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine.
The decision will help end a sense of limbo for 15 million Americans who received the first dose but were worried whether it was enough to protect them, particularly after the rise of the Delta variant.
The committee members, convened by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), agreed with the pharmaceutical company that safety and efficacy evidence favored a second dose.
US To Accept Mixed Vaccine Doses As It Reopens For Foreign Visitors Next MonthThe US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said late on Friday that it will accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from international travelers, a boost to travelers from Canada and other places.
The CDC said last week that it would accept any vaccine authorized for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization. "While CDC has not recommended mixing types of vaccine in a primary series, we recognize that this is increasingly common in other countries so should be accepted for the interpretation of vaccine records," a CDC spokeswoman said.
Russia tops 1,000 daily virus deaths for first time
Russia on Saturday topped 1,000 deaths over 24 hours for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, with the country's jab drive at a standstill and few restrictions in place.
An official government tally showed 1,002 deaths and 33,208 new infections, setting a high for both fatalities and cases for the third day in a row.
The surging outbreak has come with just 31 percent of Russians fully inoculated as of Saturday, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid-19 data from the regions.
A lack of tough restrictions has allowed the virus to spread unchecked, though a number of regions have re-introduced QR codes for access to public places.
The Kremlin has avoided re-introducing major restrictions despite calling the country's vaccination rate "unacceptably" low, saying this week authorities have to ensure "the economy continues working".
It also said that Russia's medical system is prepared to take in the rising number of patients, describing it as not "overwhelmed".
Authorities have blamed Russians for the growing outbreak.
Karnataka to decide on easing COVID curbs after consulting experts
The Karnataka government on Saturday said it will take a call on further relaxing the COVID-19 related restrictions after consulting the experts soon, in view of a substantial drop in cases in the state.
"There will be a meeting with the experts on COVID-19 either tomorrow or the day after. If the norms have to be changed in the coming days, we will do it after seeking the opinion of experts," Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told reporters.
He said there will be a comprehensive discussion on a range of issues from reopening of schools for all the classes to reopening all commercial establishments and movement of people in the border states.
After obtaining everyone's approval, an appropriate decision will be taken, Mr Bommai said.
Malaysia reports 7,420 new COVID-19 infections, 89 deaths
Malaysia reported another 7,420 new COVID-19 infections, as of midnight Friday, bringing the national total to 23,77,033, according to the health ministry.
Some 17 of the new cases are imported, with 7,403 being local transmissions, data released on the ministry's website showed.
Another 89 deaths were reported, lifting the deaths to 27,770. About 11,413 patients have been released after recovery, taking the total number of cured and discharged to 22,51,758.
Of the remaining 97,505 active cases, 703 are being held in intensive care and 366 of those are in need of assisted breathing.
The country reported 1,74,732 vaccine doses administered on Friday alone and about 75.7 per cent of the population have received at least one dose and 67.5 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Puducherry reports 48 new coronavirus cases
Puducherry added 48 fresh cases to its COVID-19 tally, which rose to 1,27,344 on Saturday.
The fresh cases were identified at the end of examination of 3,823 samples during the last 24 hours. The fresh cases were spread over Puducherry 27, Karaikal 9, Yanam 1 and Mahe 11.
There were 598 active cases of whom 98 patients were in hospitals and remaining 500 were in home isolation.
While 61 patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty- four hours the overall recoveries in the Union Territory stood at 1,24,897.
Director of the Department of Health G Sriramulu said the test positivity rate was 1.26 percent while fatality and recovery rates were 1.45 per cent and 98.08 per cent respectively.
There was no fresh fatality during last twenty-four hours and the number of deaths remained 1,849.
The Department has tested so far 18.64 lakh samples of which 15.81 lakh samples turned out to be negative. It has administered so far 10,69,817 doses which comprised 7,11,056 first doses and 3,58,761 second doses.
Coronavirus India Updates: One new case takes COVID-19 tally of Andamans to 7,641
Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported just one new COVID-19 case, which took the tally in the Union Territory to 7,641, a health department official said on Saturday. The fresh case was detected during contact tracing, he said.
The deaths remained at 129 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.
Two more persons were cured of the disease during the period, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 7,503.
The Union Territory now has nine active cases.
The local administration has been strict to contain the spread of the disease and has adopted an approach of tracking, testing and treating, he said, adding that people arriving here from the mainland are mandatorily required to undergo COVID tests.
Altogether, 4,62,189 people have been inoculated with 1,70,355 of them having received both doses of the vaccines.
Ladakh records 4 new COVID-19 cases
Four fresh COVID-19 cases were detected in Ladakh, taking the virus tally to 20,871 while the active cases in the union territory dropped to 42 after recovery of six patients, officials said on Saturday.
Ladakh has registered 208 Covid-related deaths - 150 in Leh and 58 in Kargil - since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.
The officials said 3,371 persons were tested for COVID-19 in the twin districts on Saturday and four of them were found positive in Leh.
Five Coronavirus infected patients were discharged from a hospital in Leh and another in Kargil, thereby taking the number of recoveries in Ladakh to 20,621, they said, adding after the fresh recoveries, the active cases dropped to 41 in Leh and one in Kargil.
The officials said no death was reported due to Covid in Ladakh on Friday.
Fresh COVID-19 recoveries outnumber new cases in Assam
Assam reported more single-day COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases, while the deaths rose to 5,939 with one new fatality, the latest health bulletin issued by the National Health Mission said.
The northeastern state logged 147 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday, even as 284 patients were discharged from hospitals and covid care centres during the day, it said.
The COVID-19 tally stood at 6,05,994, while 5,96,547 patients have recovered from the disease so far.
Assam now has 2,161 active cases, the bulletin said, adding, 15,805 sample tests were conducted on Friday.
A total of 2,62,13,224 people have been vaccinated in the northeastern state thus far, it said.
Coronavirus Updates India: 207 new Covid cases in Assam in last 24 hours, positivity rate at 1.53 pc
Assam reported 207 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, as per a health bulletin issued by the state government on Thursday.
According to the health bulletin, 13,548 samples were tested during the last 24 hours and a positivity rate of 1.53 per cent was recorded. During the same duration, 362 people recovered from the disease while 2 people lost their lives to the deadly virus.
The current recovery rate in the state stands at 98.42 per cent and the fatality rate is at 0.98 per cent.
At present, there are 2,299 active cases in the state.
As per the bulletin, Assam has reported a total of 6,05,847 cases of COVID-19 so far, out of which 5,96, 263 have recovered from the disease while 5,938 patients have lost their lives to the deadly virus, read the health bulletin.
A total of 2,40,9,732 samples have been tested so far in the state.
Coronavirus Updates: Special COVID-19 vaccination drive to be launched in Dehradun on October 18
A special COVID-19 vaccination drive will be launched in Dehradun's main markets and shopping malls from October 18.
In order to increase the COVID-19 vaccinations, the District Administration, Health Department and Smart City Project Limited are doing innovative experiments to get the vaccination done through mobile teams in the Dehradun district's main markets and shopping malls.
This campaign will continue till November 2.
District Magistrate and CEO of Dehradun Smart City Limited Dr R Rajesh Kumar said the district has achieved 100 per cent vaccination with the first doses but only 50 per cent of beneficiaries have received both doses.
"Therefore the campaign will be held on October 18 considering this number. The purpose of the campaign is also that those who have not been vaccinated yet should be motivated to vaccinate them," he said.
Kumar said the residents will be rewarded for taking the second dose through a lucky draw sponsored by the smart city.
"The festival is fun only when the people have taken their second dose," the District Magistrate said.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Sydney To Open To Fully Vaccinated, No Quarantine, But "Citizens First" Sydney will allow in fully vaccinated travellers from overseas from Nov. 1 without the need for quarantine, the country's most populous state said on Friday, although the easing of strict entry controls will initially benefit only citizens.
The move comes as New South Wales state is expected to reach an 80% first dose vaccination rate on Saturday, well ahead of the rest of Australia, and brings forward the expected return of overseas travel by several weeks.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Tamil Nadu Records 1,245 New COVID-19 Cases, 16 Deaths In Last 24 Hours
Tamil Nadu reported 1,245 new COVID-19 and 16 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of active cases in the state now stands at 15,238. According to the state health bulletin on Friday, 1,442 recoveries were recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative recoveries to 26,33,534.