Covid-19 cases in India: The recovery rate was recorded at 98.04 per cent.
India recorded 14,313 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,39,85,920, while the active cases declined to 2,14,900, the lowest in 212 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
The number of deaths climbed to 4,50,963 with 181 fresh deaths, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The active cases comprise 0.63 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.04 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
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.
Here are Highlights on Coronavirus Cases In India :
Karnataka reports 332 new COVID-19 cases
Karnataka saw 332 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. According to the state health bulletin, 515 more people recovered from the infection while 11 people lost their lives to the deadly virus. The deaths stands at 37,906.
The state has 9,712 active cases and the positivity rate stands at 0.41 per cent.
The total count of cases has gone up to 29,81,732 and 29,34,085 people have recovered from the disease.
Number of COVID-19 cases, deaths decrease in Assam
The number of fresh COVID-19 cases and deaths in Assam came down on Tuesday compared to the previous day, a National Health Mission Bulletin said.
As many as 226 new cases were detected on Tuesday, which was 44 less than the previous day.
Of the fresh cases, Kamrup Metropolitan reported the highest at 76, followed by Jorhat (20), Sonitpur (17) and Barpeta (14).
Altogether three COVID-19 deaths were registered in the state during the day, taking the total deaths to 5,934.
The deaths decreased by two compared to Monday.
The number of COVID-19 patients dying due to other reasons remained at 1,347, the bulletin said.
The coronavirus caseload in Assam is now 6,05,465.
Punjab logs 20 more COVID-19 cases
Punjab on Tuesday reported 20 more cases of COVID-19, taking the infection tally in the state to 6,01,913, according to a medical bulletin.
The deaths stood at 16,531 as no new fatalities were reported in a 24-hour period, it showed.
Among the new cases of the disease, five were in Patiala, and three each in Faridkot and Kapurthala.
The number of active cases in the state has dropped to 215 from 229 on Monday.
Thirty-three more people have recovered from the infection in the state, taking the number of those who have been cured so far to 5,85,167, the bulletin stated.
Gujarat Records 22 COVID-19 Cases, No DeathGujarat reported 22 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking its case tally to 8,26,184, while the death toll remained unchanged at 10,086, an official said.
The discharge of 19 people during the day increased the recovery count to 8,15,909, leaving the state with 189 patients, five of whom are in critical condition, he said.
Delhi Reports 34 New COVID-19 Cases In Last 24 HoursDelhi reported 34 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
According to the health bulletin, the total number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital has gone up to 14,39,252 of which 14,13,798 have recovered. There are 365 active cases of COVID-19 in the city.
For Merck's COVID-19 Antiviral Pill, A Big Indian ComponentIndia's Everest Organics Ltd said on Tuesday it had started making the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for a generic version of Merck & Co's experimental antiviral drug molnupiravir to treat mild to moderate COVID-19.
Shares of Everest Organics jumped as much as 11.6 per cent after the news came in, and were last up 9.9 per cent at Rs 330 in a weak Mumbai market. The Indian bulk drugs manufacturer joins Divi's Laboratories Ltd as an API maker for Merck's experimental oral drug.
Merck has separately entered into voluntary licensing agreements with at least eight Indian generic drugmakers for molnupiravir, with an aim to turn the country into a manufacturing hub for the drug.
UK Government Mishandled Initial Covid Response: MP's ProbeA British parliamentary report published Tuesday said that the government's delay in locking down society when Covid-19 hit last year had cost lives and was "one of the most important public health failures" in the country's history.
In a damning assessment, a cross-party group of MPs found that official pandemic planning was too focused on influenza and had failed to learn the lessons from prior outbreaks of SARS, MERS and Ebola.
The 151-page study, published by two parliamentary watchdog committees after months of hearings, comes ahead of an independent public inquiry into the government's coronavirus handling due to begin next year.
Covaxin Recommended By Expert Panel For Children From Two To 18 Years
An expert panel on Tuesday recommended Covaxin - Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine - for use on children between the ages of two and 18.
Final approval - grant of which is viewed as a formality -will be given by the Drug Controller General of India.
When that approval does come, Covaxin will be the second vaccine cleared for use on kids; in August Zydus Cadila's three-dose DNA jab was allowed to be used on adults and children over 12.
A third potential vaccine for kids is Serum Institute's Novavax, for which the DCGI last month cleared trials for children between seven and 11 years. A fourth is Biological E's Corbevax, which has been cleared to conduct advanced trials on children above five.
Last week manufacturers Bharat Biotech said it had submitted data on vaccine trials on children.
Just In| Covaxin recommended by expert panel for children from 2 to 18 years
Coronavirus Updates: Mizoram reports 1,430 new COVID-19 cases, 5 fresh fatalities
Mizoram's COVID-19 tally surged to 1,07,566 on Tuesday as 1,430 more people tested positive for the virus, while five new fatalities pushed the death toll to 363, an official said.
The single-day positivity rate was 15.18 per cent as the fresh cases were detected from 9,422 sample tests.
At least 288 children were among the newly infected people, he said.
Aizawl district reported the highest number of fresh cases at 761, followed by Lunglei district (149) and Siaha district (113), he said.
Five patients have travel history and the rest 1,425 were found to have contracted the virus locally, he said.
The number of COVID-19 active cases now stands at 14,381, while 92,822 people have recovered from the infection.
The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state now is 86.29 per cent and the death rate is 0.33 per cent.
COVID-19 Updates: Puducherry witnesses 56 new coronavirus cases
Puducherry added 56 new cases to its COVID-19 tally, which climbed to 1,27,151 on Tuesday.
The fresh cases were identified at the end of examination of 4,537 samples and they were spread over Puducherry 27, Karaikal 17 and Mahe 12.
No new fatality was reported from any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam and the fatalities remained 1848.
Director of the Health Department G Sriramulu said there were 617 active cases of whom 95 were in hospitals and the remaining 522 patients in home isolation.
While 78 patients recovered and were discharged during last 24 hours the overall recoveries stood at 1,24,686.
Coronavirus Updates: Over 97 crores COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to states, Union Territories, Says CentreThe Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday informed that 97,00,24,165 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, through all sources.
According to the health ministry, 8,22,69,545 balance and unutilized COVID Vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered.
"The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from 21st June 2021," it said.
The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
Update| India sees lowest daily COVID-19 cases (14,313) since early March
New Zealand seeks to ramp up COVID-19 vaccinations amid persistent cases
New Zealand expects to administer a record 100,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses in a single day during a mass immunisation drive on Oct. 16, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she seeks to accelerate inoculations before easing curbs in Auckland.
Ardern on Tuesday urged the country's population over 12 years of age "to roll up sleeves for New Zealand and help make us (one of) the most vaccinated and therefore protected countries in the world". Some 2.44 million, or 58% of the population over 12, have been fully vaccinated so far.
"There is nothing stopping us other than people (not) showing up," Ardern said during a media briefing in Wellington.
New Zealand, which had stayed largely virus-free for most of the pandemic until a Delta outbreak in mid-August, has recorded 4,345 confirmed cases overall and 28 deaths.
Guwahati's Bishnupur Durga puja pandal designed on the theme of Covid vaccine
"We're displaying measures to keep people safe from the coronavirus. SOPs are being followed. People can visit pandal before 9pm according to guidelines," said organising committee president.
Covid cases rising in Mizoram; campaign launched to create awareness of wearing masks
The Mizoram government on Monday launched a 10-day "All mask campaign" across the state to sensitize people about the importance of wearing masks to protect themselves from COVID-19 infection.
During the campaign, people should were masks even at home all the time except during meals and family members should not dine together.
Launching the campaign at a function in Zoram Medical College (ZMC) central library, Health Minister Dr R Lalthangliana said Covid-19 cases in the state continue to rise and the fatality rate is also growing up fast.
He said the daily Covid-19 cases of Mizoram have outnumbered the total number of the seven other Northeastern states taken together several times.
In order to check the rising COVID-19 cases, the state government has set up a State-level Expert Team on Covid-19 Management and as per its proposal, the 10-day campaign on the use of masks has been launched, he said.
Mr Lalthangliana said recent studies showed that wearing masks appropriately can effectively protect people from being infected with coronavirus.
Covid care facilities and ICUs across the state are flooded with coronavirus patients, he said urging people to take care of their health.
Nagaland logs 24 new COVID-19 cases
Nagaland's COVID-19 tally rose to 31,473 on Monday as 24 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.
Eight people were detected as COVID-19 positive on Sunday.
Twenty-four patients were cured in the last 24 hours, taking the number of those who recovered from coronavirus to 29,529.
With no fatality reported during the day, the deaths remained at 671.
Dimapur recorded the highest number of new cases at 17, followed by Tuensang (three), Mokukchung (two), and Peren and Phek (one each), the bulletin said.
Nagaland now has 257 active cases, while 1,016 patients have migrated to other areas.
The state has tested 3.82 lakh samples for COVID-19 thus far and inoculated over 6.96 lakh people, of whom 4.10 lakh have been fully vaccinated.