This Article is From Feb 26, 2021

Latest News Live Updates: 16,738 New Covid Cases Recorded In India

Latest News Live Updates: The Health Ministry said 89.57 per cent of the new cases are from seven states.

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Updates: COVID-19 active cases were recorded at 1,51,708 on Thursday. (File)

New Delhi:

India's COVID-19 active cases were recorded at 1,51,708, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday, highlighting that the surge was due to rise in daily new cases in some states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh. A total of 16,738 new daily cases have been recorded in a span of 24 hours.

The ministry said 89.57 per cent of the new cases are from seven states. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,807. It is followed by Kerala with 4,106 cases while Punjab reported 558 new cases.

The Centre has deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir (UT) to ascertain reasons for the surge and coordinate with the state health departments in COVID-19 control and containment measures.

The Centre has also written to states and UTs to focus on undertaking aggressive measures to break the chain of transmission.

Here are the Latest News Live Updates:

Feb 26, 2021 04:03 (IST)
Brazil's Covid-19 death count passes 250,000: Health Ministry
Brazil's death count from Covid-19 surpassed a quarter-million Thursday, a year after the first case was confirmed in the country, which is struggling with vaccine shortages and a devastating second wave.

The new coronavirus has now killed 251,498 people in Brazil, according to health ministry figures -- the second-highest toll worldwide, after the United States, where the number passed half a million Monday.

The news came a day before Brazil marks one year since health officials confirmed its first case of the virus, a Sao Paulo businessman returning from a trip to Italy.

Since then, the virus has spread across the sprawling South American country with dire effectiveness.
Feb 26, 2021 00:02 (IST)
Feb 25, 2021 23:29 (IST)
Worldwide coronavirus deaths top 2.5 million: AFP count
Covid-19 has killed more than 2.5 million people worldwide since the pandemic began in December 2019, according to an AFP count based on official figures at 1730 GMT Thursday.

In total, 2,500,172 deaths and 112,618,488 cases have been reported. With 842,894 deaths, Europe is the hardest-hit region, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (667,972 deaths) and the US and Canada (528,039). Almost half of deaths have occurred in just five countries: the US, Brazil, Mexico, India and Britain.
Feb 25, 2021 22:57 (IST)
Feb 25, 2021 22:32 (IST)
Gujarat records 424 new COVID-19 cases, highest in a month
Gujarat recorded 424 new coronavirus cases today, the highest daily count in a month, taking the tally to 2,68,571, while more than 300 patients recovered from the infection, the state health department said.

On January 24, as many as 410 new COVID-19 cases had emerged in the state in a span of 24 hours and since then, the daily infections have been below the 400-mark.
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Feb 25, 2021 21:35 (IST)
Covid sparking "oxygen emergency": United Nations
The COVID-19 pandemic has left an already strained medical oxygen supply gasping for breath, with the UN and its partners warning that $1.6 billion was needed to address the global emergency.

COVID-19 has put massive pressure on health systems around the world, and in particular in poorer countries, where many hospitals have faced oxygen shortages. This has resulted in preventable deaths and forced families of hospitalised patients to pay extra to ensure access to oxygen for their loved ones.

The WHO-led ACT-Accelerator, a globally-pooled hunt for Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments, said Thursday it was launching an Oxygen Emergency Taskforce to address the spiralling crisis.
Feb 25, 2021 21:10 (IST)
UK lowers COVID-19 alert level
British health officials on Thursday lowered the country's virus alert level from 5 to 4, saying case numbers were falling and were less of a threat to the state-run National Health Service.

The UK's chief medical officers and the medical director of NHS England said they had agreed "the UK alert level should move from level 5 to level 4 in all four nations", as cases were "consistently declining" and the threat of the NHS "being overwhelmed within 21 days has receded."
Feb 25, 2021 20:37 (IST)
Hospitals Prep For Phase 2 Of COVID-19 Vaccination As People Eagerly Wait For Turn
Preparations are on at hospitals across Delhi as the second phase of the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country will begin March 1, with priority given to people over 60 and those over 45 with co-morbidities. The daily targets are about to double up as second doses of healthcare and frontline workers will go on simultaneously.
Feb 25, 2021 19:47 (IST)
J&K reports 108 new COVID-19 cases, infection tally rises to 1,26,201
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 108 new COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally to 1,26,201, even as no fresh deaths due to the virus was registered in a span of 24 hours, officials said. Out of the fresh cases, 31 were from Jammu division and 77 from Kashmir division of the union territory, they said.

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 47 new cases, followed by Udhampur district with 23.
Feb 25, 2021 19:26 (IST)
Feb 25, 2021 18:48 (IST)
Pfizer-BioNTech testing booster of their COVID-19 vaccine in new trial
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE said they are testing a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine to better understand the immune response against new variants of the virus. They are also in talks with regulatory authorities about testing a vaccine modified to protect specifically against the highly transmissible new variant found in South Africa and elsewhere, known as B.1.351, as a second arm of the same study.

The companies believe their current two-dose vaccine will work against the South African variant as well as one found in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. But the studies will allow the vaccine makers to be prepared if and when more protection is necessary, they said. "The rate of mutations in the current virus is higher than expected," Pfizer Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said.
Feb 25, 2021 18:16 (IST)
Debilitating "long-Covid" may have severe health, social impacts: World Health Organization
Thousands of COVID-19 patients continue to suffer serious, debilitating and lingering symptoms many months after their initial bout of infection, with major social, health and economic consequences, European health experts said on Thursday.

Publishing a World Health Organization-led guidance report on the condition, often referred to as "long COVID" or "post-COVID syndrome", experts said around one in 10 COVID-19 patients are still unwell 12 weeks after their acute infection, and many suffer symptoms for far longer.

"This is a condition that can be extremely debilitating. Those suffering from it describe a varying combination of overlapping symptoms... (including) chest and muscle pain, fatigue, shortness of breath... brain fog (and) many others," said Martin McKee, a professor at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies who led the report.
Feb 25, 2021 17:36 (IST)
Delhi records 220 new COVID-19 cases, 188 recoveries in last 24 hours
Delhi reported 220 fresh COVID-19 cases, 188 recoveries and two deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Delhi Health Department's data. With the addition of new infections, the cumulative COVID-19 cases in the national capital reached 6,38,593, including 6,26,519 recoveries, and 10,905 deaths.

At present, the total number of active cases in the state stands at 1,169. The cumulative positivity rate in the national capital is 5.24 per cent. At present, Delhi has 550 containment zones.
Feb 25, 2021 17:07 (IST)
Over 89% Of New Covid Cases In India In 24 Hours From 7 States: Centre
India's COVID-19 active cases were recorded at 1,51,708, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday, highlighting that the surge was due to rise in daily new cases in some states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
Feb 25, 2021 16:47 (IST)
Rajasthan makes Covid negative report mandatory for travellers from Kerala, Maharashtra
Those coming from Kerala and Maharashtra to Rajasthan need to carry a RT PCR Covid negative report to enter the state, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said.
Feb 25, 2021 16:27 (IST)
Live Update: Nirav Modi Extradition Cleared By UK Court
Jeweller Nirav Modi, wanted in Rs 14,000-crore PNB scam, can be extradited to India, says UK court.
Feb 25, 2021 16:15 (IST)
"No Evidence That If Extradited, Nirav Modi Won't Get Justice": UK Judge
A UK court today said that it was satisfied there is evidence that jeweller Nirav Modi, wanted for fraud and money laundering in the ₹ 14,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, could be convicted.

District Judge Samuel Goozee at the Westminster Magistrates' Court said there were clearly links between Nirav Modi and other connivers including officials of the bank. "Mr Modi personally subsequently wrote to PNB acknowledging the debt and promising to repay. The CBI is investigating that Nirav Modi firms were dummy partners," the judge noted. These companies were shadow companies operated by Nirav Modi, he said.
Feb 25, 2021 15:31 (IST)
Home Quarantine Norms Breach Among Reasons For COVID-19 Surge: Officials

Blatant violation of COVID-19 home quarantine and social distancing guidelines and unavailability of adequate resources for contact-tracing have led to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, a senior health official said on Thursday.
Feb 25, 2021 14:44 (IST)
We have decided to have a 3-stair mechanism for OTT platforms. OTT and digital news media will have to disclose their details. We are not mandating registration, we are seeking information.
Feb 25, 2021 14:44 (IST)
There should be a grievance redressal system in OTT platforms and digital portals. OTT platforms will have to have a self-regulating body, headed by retired Supreme Court or High Court judge or very eminent person in this category: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar.



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