India's total tally of COVID-19 cases surged to 3,12,57,720 with 41,383 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have crossed 3.04 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The death count increased to 4,18,987 with 507 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Meanwhile, the prevalence of the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 among specimens sequenced over the past four weeks exceeded 75 per cent in many countries worldwide, including India, China, Russia, Israel and the UK, the WHO has said.
In the COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update published July 20, the World Health Organisation said that despite efforts to extend vaccination coverage, many countries across all six WHO regions continue to experience surges in coronavirus cases.
Over the past week, the highest numbers of new cases were reported from Indonesia (350,273 new cases; a 44 per cent increase), the UK (296,447 new cases; 41 per cent increase), Brazil (287,610 new cases; 14 per cent decrease), India (268,843 new cases; 8 per cent decrease) and the US (216,433 new cases; 68 per cent increase).
Here are the Live Updates on Coronavirus:
Congress leader KC Venugopal moved a privilege motion Thursday against Minister of State (MoS) for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar for "misleading" the parliament on deaths due to the shortage of oxygen in the country during the second Covid wave.
China rejected on Thursday a World Health Organization (WHO) plan for a second phase of an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which includes the hypothesis it could have escaped from a Chinese laboratory, a top health official said.
Mayawati said the claim of "no deaths due to lack of oxygen" during the COVID-19 second wave was very unfortunate and sad, and added that such statements were creating distrust among people of the government's ability to tackle any future wave.
Eighty per cent of people eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in Goa have received their first dose, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said, and also expressed hope that students of Classes 10 and 12 could have physical classes in schools before August 15.
Assam's COVID-19 tally rose to 5,54,221 on Thursday as 1,796 people tested positive for the infection, while 22 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 5,076, a health bulletin said.
Britain has reported another 39,906 coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 5,602,321, according to official figures released Thursday.
The country also recorded another 84 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now standing at 128,980.
Malaysia reported 13,034 new COVID-19 infections, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, bringing the cumulative national total to 964,918 cases. The country reported 134 more deaths taking the death count to 7,574.
A total of 8,436 more patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 815,293 or 84.5 percent of all cases.
Tamil Nadu registered 1,872 fresh coronavirus cases, pushing tally to 25.43 lakh, the health department said on Thursday. Recoveries eclipsed new Covid infections with 2,475 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 24,81,201.
The number of fatalities in the state climbed to 33,838 with 29 more people succumbing to the virus.
West Bengal on Thursday reported 793 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths, a bulletin showed. The state recorded a positivity rate of 1.81 per cent as the new cases were detected after testing 43,809 samples. Currently, there are 12,205 active cases in the state.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has surpassed 42 crore, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.
More than 48.86 lakh (48,86,103) vaccine doses have been administered on Thursday, according to the 7 pm provisional report.
The ministry said 23,62,689 vaccine doses were administered as first dose and 2,14,281 vaccine doses given as second dose in the age group 18-44 years on Thursday.
The COVID-19 patient treated with steroids developed unusually large and multiple liver abscesses after recovery from infection, said the reports of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi today.
Telangana on Thursday reported 648 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to over 6.39 lakh, while the death count rose to 3,774 with three more deaths. The number of active cases stood at 9,857.
The Union Territory of Ladakh on Thursday recorded four new COVID-19 cases that took the infection tally to 20,282. Seven people were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the infection, taking the overall recoveries in Ladakh to 19,985. The total number of active cases in Ladakh has come down to 91, including 71 in Leh and 20 in Kargil district. No Covid-related death has been recorded in the region in the past 24 hours.
The EU on Thursday said 200 million Europeans had been fully vaccinated, more than half of the adult population but still short of a 70 percent target it had set for the summer.
Uttarakhand reports 56 new #COVID cases, 48 recoveries, and 02 deaths today.
- ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2021
Active cases: 649
Death toll: 7,359 pic.twitter.com/8kbRp3Sawr
Kerala reports 12,818 new #COVID19 cases, 122 deaths today; Test positivity rate at 12.38%
- ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2021
Sikkim's COVID-19 tally rose to 24,341 on Thursday as 294 more people tested positive for the infection, while two fresh fatalities pushed the Himalayan state's coronavirus death count to 328, a health bulletin said. The positivity rate in the state stood at a high of 17.7%.
Goa reports 97 new cases of #COVID19, 5 deaths and 129 recoveries; active case tally at 1,376 pic.twitter.com/NFtfLjN0lX
- ANI (@ANI) July 22, 2021
Andhra Pradesh records 1,843 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a health bulletin showed. During the same period, 12 deaths were recorded. Active cases in the state reached 23,571.
News anchors in junta-ruled Myanmar have been told to stop using the English pronunciation for Covid-19, with speculation swirling the word has been culled to ensure more positive coverage amid a deadly spike of cases.
Coronavirus #FactsVsMyths | "Rate of #COVID19 cases are low in Canada, we are in various stages of reopening. Allowing fully vaccinated individuals seems reasonable as the first step": Dr @BogochIsaac, University of Toronto pic.twitter.com/MrWkSbpmZ1
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 22, 2021
French cinemas, museums and sports venues began asking visitors Wednesday to furnish proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test as the country, which is in the throes of a fourth wave of infections.
China pushed back against the World Health Organization's call for another probe into the coronavirus's origins that includes examining whether it leaked from a lab, saying there's no evidence for the theory and it defies common sense. Read more
There's no good place to stand inside the Pandemic Response Lab's sequencing facility in Queens, N.Y.
India's actual death count from Covid-19 could range between 1.3 million to a staggering 5 million, with even the most conservative estimate putting its tally at more than double the U.S., the highest recorded in the world so far.
Refuting media reports that alleged India's COVID-19 death count was "vastly undercounted", the government on Thursday said the reports assume that all excess mortality figures are Covid deaths, which is not based on facts and totally fallacious. Read here.
As many as 45,374 cases of Mucormycosis or "Black Fungus" have been reported in the country so far, said the Union Health Ministry on Thursday, according to news agency ANI. It said 4,332 Black Fungus patients have died due to the disease across the country.
MoS Health, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, "Mucormycosis or Black Fungus, although not a new disease, was not a notifiable disease till May 2021 when the health ministry requested states to declare it a notifiable disease under Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 to get an objective assessment of Mucormycosis in the community."
The minister also said that "Mucormycosis cases in the country for the last two months is showing a declining trend."
#NDTVCoronavirusTracker pic.twitter.com/zfziqHJCkQ
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 22, 2021
Five member states of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) alone will account for three-quarters of the entire global output of COVID-19 vaccines this year, said Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. "Production remains highly centralised - about 75 per cent of this year's vaccines appear set to come from five WTO members - China, India, Germany, the United States, and France," the WTO Director-General said at a high-level dialogue on "Expanding COVID-19 vaccine manufacture to promote equitable access."
Delhi: #COVID19 has pushed us to innovate faster than ever before. And these innovations in discipline of education can help us build a more equitable system of teaching & learning. However, we need to constantly improve & upgrade online ecosystem: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu pic.twitter.com/BHtTATQHOM
- ANI (@ANI) July 21, 2021