Coronavirus Cases in India: The recovery rate is 97.37 per cent.
India recorded more than 40,000 fresh COVID-19 cases, while its active caseload is now more than 4,00,000 today, according to Union health ministry data.
India recorded 41,649 new coronavirus infections that pushed its tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,16,13,993 while the number of deaths climbed to 4,23,810 with 593 deaths in the last 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases have increased to 4,08,920 and comprise 1.29 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate is 97.37 per cent, it stated.
The daily positivity rate has increased to 2.34 per cent. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.42 per cent, the ministry data stated.
Meanwhile, with more than 50 per cent of its population still not infected, the current Covid trend was always expected in the state, especially given its peculiar characteristics, Kerala Health Minister Veena George said on Friday. What is being seen now, she reiterated, was a result of a well-planned strategy to handle the pandemic.
Citing a number of parameters that indicate "our defensive measures were very good", Ms George said the focus right now is on vaccines, something the state is running out of quickly.
Here are the LIVE updates on India coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:
Telangana records 621 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths
Telangana recorded 621 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,44,951, while the death count rose to 3,802 with two more fatalities. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 80, followed by Karimnagar (67) and Warangal Urban (54) districts, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5:30 pm.
Meghalaya reports 686 new COVID-19 cases, 12 more deaths
Meghalaya reported 686 new COVID-19 cases, which took the tally in the state to 65,000, a health department official said. The death count rose to 1,085 as 12 more people died due to the infection during the day, Health Services Director Aman War said.
Goa records 94 COVID-19 cases, 1 deathGoa's coronavirus caseload went up by 94 and reached 1,71,146 on Saturday, while the day also saw one death and 128 recoveries, an official said.
The state's death count stands at 3,147 and the number of people discharged so far is 1,66,941, leaving it with an active caseload of 1,058, he said. With 4,774 samples being examined in the last 24 hours, the number of tests in Goa went up to 10,56,184, he added.
Andhra Pradesh records 2,058 COVID-19 cases, 23 deathsAndhra Pradesh reported 2,058 fresh coronavirus cases, 2,053 recoveries and 23 deaths in 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday. Consequently, the gross positives increased to 19,66,175, recoveries to 19,31,618 and deaths to 13,377, a health department bulletin said.
The number of active cases in the state was 21,180, it said.
Districts with over 10% Covid positivity need to consider strict curbs: CentreDistricts reporting a COVID-19 positivity rate of over 10 per cent in the last few weeks need to consider strict restrictions to prevent or curtail people's movement and crowding, the Centre told 10 states witnessing an upsurge in infections and positivity.
Highlighting that 46 districts are showing more than 10 per cent positivity rate while another 53 are showing positivity between five and 10 per cent, the Centre has urged the states to ramp up their testing for detection of COVID-19.
The Health Ministry said it was forcefully underlined that any laxity at this stage will result in the deterioration of the situation in these districts.
Coronavirus India Updates: Nagaland announces fourth phase of unlocking from August 1
The Nagaland government on Saturday announced the fourth phase of unlocking for 18 days starting Sunday with further relaxations, including allowing more time for shops to open and buses to ply with reduced capacity.
The first phase of the unlocking was from July 1-7, followed by the second round from July 8-17 and the third period from July 18.
The decision for Unlock-4 from August 1-18 was taken during a meeting of the High Powered Committee on COVID-19 headed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, an official said.
The HPC has decided to extend the time for opening of shops to 12 hours, from 6 am to 6 pm. It was earlier permitted till 4 pm.
Bus transport services, both private and government, would be allowed to operate with 50 per cent capacity, he said.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Delhi government asks private hospitals to discontinue their extended Covid facilities at hotels
The Delhi government has directed private hospitals to discontinue their extended Covid facilities at hotels with immediate effect in view of the marked improvement in the coronavirus situation in the capital.
The government had issued an order earlier during the second wave linking hotels with private hospitals in order to convert them into extended Covid facilities in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases and also augment bed capacity in the national capital.
"It has been decided to discontinue the scheme of creation of health care facilities at hotels by private hospitals which was operationalised earlier. All concerned private hospitals are, accordingly, directed to wind up the facilities operating in hotels with immediate effect," the new order issued on July 29 said.
Delhi had faced a brutal second Covid wave with shortage of beds and oxygen adding to the woes.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took his second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine in Patna today.
Coronavirus India Updates: Odisha logs 1,578 fresh COVID-19 cases, 68 more fatalities
Odisha on Saturday reported 1,578 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 9,77,268, while the death toll mounted to 5,902 with 68 more fatalities, a health department official said.
After almost four months, all the 30 districts of the state registered daily test positivity ratio below 5 per cent, he said.
Odisha now has 16,384 active cases, and as many as 9,54,929 patients have recovered from the disease, including 1,841 since Friday.
"This is for the first time that the daily TPR has gone down below 5 per cent in all the districts. Altogether, 16 districts recorded TPR below 1 per cent," the official said.
Deogarh, Khurda, Balasore, Kendrapara, Puri and Cuttack are now in the green zone based on the TPR, he said.
However, in terms of active cases, only Khurda district is under the red zone with 4,614 infections.
Coronavirus News Updates: Rwanda lifts Covid lockdown on capital
Rwanda's government has ordered the lifting of a lockdown on the capital Kigali and eight other districts even though Covid cases are still on the rise.
The new measures will run from August 1-15, the government said in a statement after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Paul Kagame on Friday.
Movement between Kigali and other provinces and districts of the country can resume, but a dusk-to-dawn curfew remains in place.
All social gatherings are still banned and schools and churches remain closed, but weddings are allowed with a limit of 10 guests.
There was no immediate explanation for the lifting of the lockdown, which was imposed in mid-July.
Coronavirus India Updates: Tokyo's daily COVID-19 infections hit new record of 4,058
Newly reported COVID-19 cases in Tokyo surged to a record high of 4,058 on Saturday, the metropolitan government announced.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Active Covid cases drop to 50 in Ladakh
The active COVID-19 cases in Ladakh dropped to 50 after 14 more patients recovered from the disease, while four new infections pushed the overall tally in the Union Territory to 20,328, officials said on Saturday.
Ladakh has registered 207 Covid-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil -- since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, while 20,071 patients have recovered till date.
Nearly 3,000 people were tested for COVID-19 in the twin districts on Friday and all the four new cases were detected in Leh, taking the infection tally in the district to 16,775. Kargil had recorded a total of 3,553 cases, the officials said.
Puducherry adds 100 coronavirus cases, 2 deaths reportedPuducherry registered 100 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, raising the overall tally to 1,20,915.
The new cases were identified at the end of examination of 5,082 samples.
Puducherry region accounted for 67 new cases out of the total 100 followed by Karaikal 20, Mahe 12 and Yanam one.
Two more persons succumbed to the viral infection pushing the toll to 1,795.
They were in the age group of 60 and 84 years.
The 60-year-old patient had diabetes while the other patient aged 84 years had no co morbidity.
The active cases were 962 of whom 166 were in hospitals and the remaining 796 were in home isolation.
Over 3.14 crore balance COVID-19 doses available with states, private hospitals: Centre
More than 3.14 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states, union territories and private hospitals to be administered, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.
Over 48.78 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources and further 68,57,590 doses are in the pipeline.
Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 45,82,60,052 doses, the ministry said.
More than 3.14 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with states, UTs and private hospitals to be administered.
The new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21.
Arunachal Pradesh reports 379 new COVID-19 cases, one fresh death
Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rose to 47,856 as 379 more people tested positive for the infection, a senior health official said here on Saturday.
The COVID-19 death toll in the frontier state increased to 226 with one more person succumbing to the infection on Thursday, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.
Of the fresh cases, the Capital Complex Region registered the highest number at 112, followed by Lower Subansiri (35), Changlang (33), Papumpare (28), Lohit and West Kameng at 18 each, Upper Subansiri, West Siang and Namsai at 15 each and East Siang (14), the official said.
Ten new cases each were also reported from Lower Dibang Valley and Upper Siang, eight each from Anjaw and Tawang, seven from Leparada, six each from Kamle and Shi Yomi, five each from Tirap, Lower Siang and East Kameng, three from Longding, two from Siang and one from Dibang Valley district respectively, the SSO said.
Update| More than 48.78 crore vaccine doses have been provided to States/Union Territories so far, and a further 68,57,590 doses are in pipeline. Of this, total consumption including wastages is 45,82,60,052 doses: Union Health Ministry
Andaman and Nicobar reports single COVID-19 case
The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported only a single COVID-19 case in the last 24 hours, pushing the tally to 7,535, a health official said on Saturday.
The archipelago now has eight active COVID-19 cases and all the eight patients are in the South Andaman district. The other two districts - North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar - are now COVID-19 free as both don't have any active case, the official said.
Three more persons recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours taking the total number of COVID-19 recoveries to 7,398, he said.
The COVID-19 death toll in the union territory remained at 129 as no fresh fatality due to the disease was reported in the last 24 hours.
The union territory administration has tested 4,39,639 samples for COVID-19 till date and the cumulative test positivity rate is 1.71 per cent.
China outbreak spreads as WHO sounds alarm on DeltaMushrooming outbreaks of the highly contagious Delta variant prompted China and Australia to impose stricter Covid-19 restrictions on Saturday as the WHO urged the world to quickly contain the mutation before it turns into something deadlier and draws out the pandemic.
China's most serious surge of coronavirus infections in months spread to two more areas Saturday -- Fujian province and the sprawling megacity of Chongqing.
More than 200 cases have been linked to a Delta cluster in Nanjing city where nine cleaners at an international airport tested positive, with the outbreak spanning Beijing, Chongqing and five provinces as of Saturday.
The nation where the disease first emerged has rushed to prevent the highly transmissible strain from taking root by putting more than one million people under lockdown and reinstituting mass testing campaigns.
Just In| 41,649 new COVID-19 cases in India, nearly 6% lower than yesterday
Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane to enter Covid lockdown
Australia's third-largest city of Brisbane and other parts of Queensland state will enter a snap Covid-19 lockdown from Saturday as authorities race to contain an emerging outbreak of the Delta strain.
Millions of residents in the city and several other areas will be placed under stay-at-home orders from Saturday afternoon for three days, state Deputy Premier Steven Miles said.
"The only way to beat the Delta strain is to move quickly, to be fast and to be strong," Miles said.
Six new cases were reported Saturday in a cluster of the Delta variant initially linked to a school student, resulting in pupils and teachers at two schools being placed into isolation.
Health workers collects swab samples of travellers from Kerala and Maharashtra, for COVID-19 test at Agra railway station.
Special testing drive is being held for travellers coming from districts & states with high caseload including Kerala and Maharashtra: DM Prabhu Singh.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Vice President visits Bharat Biotech's facility in Hyderabad
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Friday visited pharma major Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing facility in Hyderabad, ANI reported.
"There is no room for vaccine hesitancy. Vaccination drive against COVID-19 should become pan-India ''Jan Andolan'' with increased participation from all sections of the people," Mr Naidu said as tweeted by Vice President Secretariat.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Israel bans travel to four more countries over COVID-19 concerns
Israel has decided to ban its citizens from travelling to Britain, Georgia, Cyprus and Turkey starting on Friday for fear of the high level of COVID-19 morbidity there, the Israeli Ministry of Health and Ministry of Transport said.
The country has banned its citizens and permanent residents from travelling to Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, India, Mexico, Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Spain and Kyrgyzstan unless they can obtain special permission from an exception committee, the ministry said in a joint statement, ANI reported.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: People should follow safety guidelines to prevent spread of COVID, says Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij
People should cooperate to prevent the spread of coronavirus, in the wake of a likely third wave of the COVID pandemic, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said on Friday.
"Health Department has made arrangements in villages as well as in cities but we need cooperation from people. COVID-19 cases have just been reduced but has not ended. People need to continue following COVID protocols to prevent the third wave," Anil Vij said ANI.