Coronavirus India Highlights: India Records 2.64 Lakh Fresh Covid Cases, 315 Deaths

Argentina registers record 1,39,853 new COVID-19 cases over past 24 hours

Uttar Pradesh, Covid In Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Coronavirus: Uttar Pradesh Not Ready For Covid Waste Management: Green Court
The National Green Tribunal has said that the Uttar Pradesh health department and the state pollution control board (SPCB)are not properly geared up for management of biomedical waste of COVID-19 patients. 

Prepare strategy to tackle 'imminent' third wave of Covid, Farooq Abdullah tells Jammu and Kashmir administration

Kerala suspends physical school for students up to Class 9

Delhi Weekend Curfew Starts, Non-Essential Activities On Hold For 50+ Hours
The weekend curfew, imposed in the national capital to check Covid spread, kicked in from Friday night putting on hold all non-essential activities for the next 55 hours.

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 155.92 crore

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 155.92 crore with more than 49 lakh vaccine doses administered on Friday, the health ministry said.

The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late tonight, it said.

In total, 52,25,52,771 first doses have been administered to individuals in the 18-44 age group in the country, and 36,49,61,308 second doses have been given in the same age group since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive, according to health ministry data.

Odisha logs 10,273 new COVID cases, 4 deaths

Odisha on Friday recorded 10,273 new COVID-19 cases, 214 more than the previous day's count, with the tally rising to 11,11,879, a health department bulletin said.

The death count mounted to 8,476 as four more persons succumbed to the disease, the highest single-day COVID fatalities in more than two months, it said.

Karnataka records 28,723 new Covid cases

Positivity Rate Above 30% In Delhi, 24,383 New Cases, Lower Than Yesterday
Delhi reported 24,383 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours, 15.5% lower than yesterday. The positivity rate in the national capital jumped to 30.64%.

Friday's positivity rate in Delhi is the highest since May 1 last year, when it was 31.6%. During that period, India was battling the second wave and hospitals across the country were struggling to arrange beds and medical oxygen for patients.

"Delhi Covid Cases Rising But...": Arvind Kejriwal's "Don't Panic" Advice
COVID-19 cases are rising fast in the national capital but there is no reason to worry, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday emphasising that hospitalisation and death rates are quite low.

He asked people to be responsible and assured them that the government has made all preparations and there are enough hospital beds.

"There is no need to panic. Cases are rising fast and there is no two ways about it. The Omicron variant is quite transmissible and infectious," Mr Kejriwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

Gene That Increases Risk of Dying From Covid Now Identified
Polish scientists have discovered a gene that they say more than doubles the risk of falling severely ill with, or even dying from Covid-19.

The Health Ministry in Warsaw expects the discovery to help identify people who are most at risk from the disease, which has already killed more than 100,000 people in Poland alone. It also plans to include genetic tests when it screens patients for potential Covid-19 infections as soon as the end of June.

The research from the Medical University of Bialystok estimates that the gene could be present in about 14% of the Polish population, compared with around 9% in Europe and 27% in India. It's the fourth most important factor determining the severity of the illness after age, weight and gender, it said.

Andhra Pradesh Registers 4,528 More Covid-19 Cases
Andhra Pradesh reported 4,528 fresh cases of Covid-19, 418 recoveries and one death in 24 hours ending 9 AM on Friday.

The latest bulletin said the number of active cases went up to 18,313.

There were a total of 20,96,755 positive cases, 20,63,934 recoveries and 14,508 deaths so far.

For the first time in about four months, a district registered more than 1,000 fresh cases in a day. Chittoor added 1,027 to the tally.

No COvid Vaccine Shortage In Maharashtra, Clarifies Health Ministry
The Union Health Ministry on Friday issued a clarification that there is no COVID-19 vaccine shortage in Maharashtra as it has over 24 lakh unutilized doses of Covaxin available with it and an additional 6.35 lakh doses have been received today, reported ANI.

According to the press release issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW), there have been some media reports alleging vaccine shortage in Maharashtra stating that due to lack of vaccines the state government is unable to increase the pace of vaccination in the state. Such reports are ill-informed and incorrect.

"It is clarified that, as per the reports available today, Maharashtra has over 24 lakh unutilized doses of Covaxin available with it and an additional 6.35 lakh doses have been received on Friday," the Ministry said.

Over 75% Delhi Covid Deaths In This Wave Were Of Unvaccinated: Minister
More than 75 per cent of those who succumbed to the novel coronavirus infection in the current wave in Delhi were unvaccinated, Health Minister Satyendra Jain said on Friday.

He also said that the city is expected to record less than 25,000 coronavirus cases on Friday.

Delhi had on Thursday reported 28,867 COVID-19 cases, the sharpest single-day spike since the pandemic began, and 31 deaths, while the positivity rate surged to 29.21 per cent, according to the health department data.

Coronavirus News Updates: Odisha activates telemedicine service for non-COVID patients