New Delhi: 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:
Jun 07, 2021 00:08 (IST)
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.
Jun 06, 2021 21:06 (IST)
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.
Jun 06, 2021 19:50 (IST)
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.
Jun 06, 2021 19:13 (IST)
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.
Jun 06, 2021 17:57 (IST)
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.
Jun 06, 2021 16:39 (IST)
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.
