Delhi is preparing to ensure to not get caught off-guard if a third wave of coronavirus hits the capital.
The screening of children for clinical trials of Covaxin will start at AIIMS in Delhi tomorrow, days after similar trials started at AIIMS in Patna, sources have said. The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in the national capital will conduct clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Bharat Biotech to see if it is suitable for children between two and 18 years old.
Experts have warned that a possible third wave can bring as much devastation as the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic if enough people are not vaccinated against the virus, and that children could be its prime target.
Meanwhile, the centre said today that 1.63 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories to be administered.
The centre has so far provided, both through the free of cost and through direct state procurement categories, more than 24 crore vaccine doses (24,60,80,900) to states and UTs.
Of this, the total consumption, including wastages is 22,96,95,199 doses, the ministry said.
India added 1.14 lakh new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 2,667.The country's overall case load now stands at 2.88 crore, while total fatalities are at 3.46 lakh, according to the health ministry.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus:
Over 9 million people facilitated under Vande Bharat Mission: Union MinisterUnion Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said that more than 9 million people have been facilitated under the Vande Bharat Mission so far. The Vande Bharat Mission was started in early May last year to evacuate Indians stranded abroad due to coronavirus-induced travel restrictions.
Taking on Twitter, Mr Puri said that the Vande Bharat Mission has been a learning experience. "World's largest repatriation mission, VBM has been a learning experience and has given us a template for managing missions of this magnitude in the future. More than 9 million people have been facilitated since May 6, 2020," the Union Minister tweeted.
Brazil reports 39,637 new coronavirus cases, 873 deaths: MinistryBrazil has had 39,637 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 873 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Sunday. The numbers reflect a weekend drop in registered cases and deaths. On a rolling seven-day average, Brazil is reporting more than 1,800 deaths a day.
The South American country has now registered 16,947,062 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 473,404, according to ministry data, in the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India, and its second-deadliest.
Kerala records 14,672 new coronavirus cases, 227 deathsKerala recorded 14,672 fresh COVID-19 infections, 21,429 recoveries, and 227 deaths, according to the state government. A positivity rate of 14.27 per cent was recorded during the 24-hour period till Sunday.
At present, Kerala has 1,60,653 active coronavirus cases. The cumulative recoveries reached 24,62,071 while the death count rose to 9,946.
Maharashtra records 12,557 new COVID-19 casesCOVID-19 cases continue to decline in Maharashtra as only 12,557 fresh infections were recorded, the state's public health department informed on Sunday. With 14,433 fresh discharges, the state's coronavirus recovery rate climbed to 95.05 per cent. As many as 233 deaths due to COVID-19 were registered on Sunday.
At present, there are 1,85,527 active cases in Maharashtra while 55,43,267 COVID-19 patients have been discharged after full recovery. The case fatality rate in the state stands at 1.72 per cent.
27 black fungus patients suffer adverse reactions after Amphotericin-B shot in Madhya PradeshAs many as 27 black fungus patients complained about mild adverse reactions after were given shots of Amphotericin-B at the government Bundelkhand Medical College (BMC) in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district, officials said. After the incident, the use of Amphotericin-B, a key drug in the treatment of black fungus, was immediately stopped at the medical college.
"At present, 42 patients are admitted at the mucormycosis ward of BMC. Out of these, 27 patients were administered Amphotericin-B injections. After the injection was administered, the patients suffered mild adverse reactions like mild fever, shivering, and vomiting. The use of the injection was immediately stopped after the incident," Dr Umesh Patel, spokesperson for the medical college said.
COVID-19: Sikkim Extends Lockdown Till June 14
The Sikkim government on Sunday extended the statewide lockdown for one more week till June 14 in view of the raging COVID-19 pandemic, an official release said.
The lockdown restrictions were scheduled to end on June 7. However, the state government also announced some relaxations like allowing hardware shops to remain open from 7am to 2pm.
Shops selling groceries and vegetables can now remain open from 7 am to 2 pm, an extension of two more hours. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang to review the management of the pandemic in the state. Cabinet ministers, the chief secretary, the director-general of police and other senior officials attended the meeting.
AIIMS Delhi To Screen Children For Covaxin Trials From Tomorrow: SourcesThe screening of children for clinical trials of Covaxin will start at AIIMS in Delhi tomorrow, days after similar trials started at AIIMS in Patna, sources have said. The All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in the national capital will conduct clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Bharat Biotech to see if it is suitable for children between two and 18 years old.
Experts have warned that a possible third wave can bring as much devastation as the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic if enough people are not vaccinated against the virus, and that children could be its prime target.
Read UP Relaxes Covid Curbs In 4 Districts
The Uttar Pradesh government has allowed shops and markets outside containment zones in Varanasi, Muzaffarnagar, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad to open for five days a week from Monday after active COVID-19 cases in these four districts fell below 600.
With this, the number of districts where active COVID-19 cases have fallen below 600 has reached 71, the state government said in a statement on Saturday.
It said the relaxations will come into effect from June 7 and will be effective from Mondays to Fridays from 7 am to 7 pm. However, night and weekend curfews will continue.
Sikkim reports 340 new COVID-19 cases, five more fatalities
Sikkim's COVID-19 caseload has mounted to 17,111 after reporting 340 new infections in the past 24 hours, a health department bulletin said on Sunday.
The Himalayan state has reported five more coronavirus deaths, taking the count to 273, it said.
Sikkim at present has 4,306 active cases, 236 others have migrated out of the state, while 12,296 patients have recovered from the disease.
Karnataka Covid-19 Update
Karnataka on Saturday registered 12,209 new coronavirus cases and 320 deaths, data released by the state health department said today. The total active Covid cases in the state now stand at 2,54,505 while the positivity rate and the death rate were reported at 7.71 per cent and 2.62 per cent, respectively. As many as 25,659 patients were discharged on Friday.
State's capital Bengaluru remained the worst-hit district with 2,944 cases and 187 deaths. The city currently has 1,17,340 active cases and over 14,000 people have lost their lives due to the highly contagious virus.
Mysuru district emerged as the second major Covid hot spot with 1,722 cases and 19 fatalities.
Amid Covid Curbs, 27 Lakh Caught Without Ticket On Trains In 2020-21: RTI
Despite severe restrictions on entry at railway stations without confirmed tickets in view of the coronavirus pandemic, over 27 lakh people were caught travelling on trains ticketless in the last fiscal, an RTI query has revealed.
This was, however, less than 25 per cent of the number of cases recorded the previous financial year and that is attributable to the restrictions imposed to check the COVID-19 contagion, say officials.
The data made available by the Railway Board following an RTI query made by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur showed that between April 2020 and March 2021, 27.57 lakh people were caught travelling ticketless and ₹ 143.82 crore was levied as a fine from them.
Delhi Reports Less Than 400 Covid Cases, Positivity Rate Falls To 0.5%
Delhi today reported 381 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours - a nearly three-month low. The positivity rate, number of positive cases identified per 100, has dropped to 0.5 per cent - the lowest since March 9 when the national capital's positivity rate was at 0.48%.
Thirty four Covid patients died in the last 24 hours in Delhi, the lowest since April 8, taking the death count to 24,591.
Delhi's recovery rate now stands at 97.86 per cent as 1,189 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours. There are now 5,889 active cases of coronavirus in the capital. 76,857 samples were tested for Covid in Delhi over the last 24 hours.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a slew of relaxations on Covid curbs on Saturday, allowing the Delhi Metro to operate with 50 per cent capacity and shops in markets and malls to remain open on odd-even basis from tomorrow.
The standalone shops will be allowed to open daily from 10am to 8 pm. Home delivery through e-commerce platforms has also been okayed as the city finds its way out of the devastating second wave of coronavirus.
Gurgaon Sees Lowest Daily Covid Cases In 2 Months, 3 DeathsGurgaon on Saturday reported 45 new cases of coronavirus, the lowest number of infections in two months in the satellite city near Delhi.
Three virus-related deaths - lowest since April 18 - were reported during the period, as per official data.
The active cases in the city have dropped below 1,000 to 809. The positivity rate now stands at 0.8%.
"Too Soon To Say": UK Health Minister On Reopening Of Lockdown In England On June 21British health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday it was too early to say whether the government would stick to its plan to lift COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England on June 21.
"It's too early to make a final decision on that. The Prime Minister and I and the team will be looking at all the data over this week. We've said that we'll give people enough time ahead of the June 21 date," Hancock told Sky News
"We are not saying 'No' to June 21 at this point," he added.
Firm In Malta Wants To Supply 60 Million Doses Of Sputnik V, Says HaryanaA company in Malta has expressed interest to supply up to 60 million doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to Haryana directly, the state government said on Saturday. Pharma Regulatory Services Ltd, whose headquarters is in the European nation, has given an "expression of Interest" but did not bid for a contract yet, the state government said in a statement.
The foreign company offered to sell the vaccine at Rs 1,120 per dose.
China reports 30 new coronavirus cases on June 5, up from previous dayChina reported 30 new coronavirus cases on the mainland for June 5, up from 24 cases a day earlier, the country's health authority said in a statement on Sunday. Of the new patients, 23 were imported, the National Health Commission said, and the seven local cases were all in southern Guangdong province. There were no new deaths.
China also reported 18 new asymptomatic infections, compared with 28 a day earlier. China does not classify symptomless infections as confirmed cases.
Taiwan to receive 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from USThe United States will donate 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to Taiwan as part of the country's plan to share shots globally, US Senator Tammy Duckworth said on Sunday, offering a much-needed boost to the island's fight against the pandemic.
Taiwan is dealing with a spike in domestic cases but has been affected like many places by global vaccines shortages. Only around 3% of its 23.5 million people have been vaccinated, with most getting only the first shot of two needed.
UK PM Boris Johnson calls on G7 to vaccinate world by end of 2022British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday called for leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to make a commitment to vaccinate the entire world against COVID-19 by the end of 2022 when they meet in Britain next week. PM Johnson will host the first in-person summit in almost two years of G7 leaders - which follows a meeting of the group's finance ministers which wrapped up earlier in the day - and said he would seek a pledge to hit the global vaccination goal.
"Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history," Boris Johnson said in a statement. "I'm calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end this terrible pandemic and pledge we will never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again."