News Analysis India

Tag: Coronavirus Outbreak

  • COVID-19: India’s active cases cross 1.5-lakh mark again as infections surge in some states

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 tally surpassed 1.10 crore on Monday with 14,199 new infections while the number of active cases increased for the fifth consecutive day and went past 1.5 lakh after a gap of 17 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

    The total number of coronavirus cases in the country stands at 1,10,05,850.

    The death toll increased to 1,56,385 with 83 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    India added 4,421 active COVID-19 cases on Monday, the biggest jump since November 26.

    With this, the number of active cases increased to 1,50,055, which constitutes 1.36 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

    Active cases were last recorded above the 1.5-lakh mark, at 1,51,460, on February 5.

    According to the health ministry, the surge in active cases is due to a spike in the number of daily infections in Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,99,410, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.22 per cent.

    The case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 21,15,51,746 samples had been tested until February 21 with 6,20,216 tested on Sunday.

    The 83 new fatalities include 35 from Maharashtra, 15 from Kerala, six from Punjab, five from Chhattisgarh and four from Madhya Pradesh.

    A total of 1,56,385 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,788 from Maharashtra, 12,460 from Tamil Nadu, 12,294 from Karnataka, 10,900 from Delhi, 10,249 from West Bengal, 8,715 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,167 from Andhra Pradesh.

    The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • India records 14,264 new COVID-19 cases, 90 fresh fatalities

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Daily COVID-19 cases in India registered an increase for the fourth consecutive day with the country recording 14,264 new cases, taking the total tally to 1,09,91,651, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

    The death toll increased to 1,56,302 with 90 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    The country had registered 18,855 infections in a day on January 29.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,89,715 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of  97.25 per  cent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent.

    The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 1.5 lakh.

    There are 1,45,634 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.32 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past  60 lakh on September 28,  70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on  November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    According to the ICMR,  21,09,31,530 samples have been tested up to February 20 with 6,70,050  samples being tested on Saturday.

    The  90 new fatalities include 40 from Maharashtra, 13 from Kerala and 8 from Punjab.

    A total of 1,56,302 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 51,753 from Maharashtra followed by 12,457 from Tamil Nadu, 12,292 from Karnataka, 10,898 from Delhi, 10,246 from West Bengal, 8,714 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,167 from Andhra Pradesh.

    The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of  Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • SII CEO Adar Poonawalla asks countries, governments to ‘be patient’ over COVID vaccine supplies

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Pune-based Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla requested the countries to ‘be patient’ as they await the Covishield supplies, adding that SII is trying to maintain a balance between the needs of India and the world.

    “Dear countries and governments, as you await COVISHIELD supplies, I humbly request you to please be patient, Serum Institute of India has been directed to prioritise the huge needs of India and along with that balance the needs of the rest of the world. We are trying our best,” Poonawalla said.

    SII has been asked to prioritise India’s vaccine needs and balance it out with the supplies to the rest of the world who are procuring COVID vaccine doses from India.

    ALSO READ: Notices issued on plea saying Covishield unsafe

    India on Wednesday announced a gift of 2 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines for UN peacekeepers.

    Earlier, he said that SII makes 70 to 80 million doses every month and the planning is underway for distribution to India and foreign countries.

    Poonawalla said many countries have been writing to India and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for vaccines to be supplied from Serum Institute to their countries and they are trying to make everyone happy.

    ALSO READ: Now, you can choose between Covaxin, Covishield in Tamil Nadu

    “We are trying to keep everyone happy. We have to take care of our population and nation as well. We are trying to supply the vaccine to Africa, South America. So we are doing a little bit everywhere. So we will try to keep everyone happy,” he had said.

    According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to healthcare and frontline workers crossed over 1.08 crore so far in the country.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16, 2021. The vaccination of the frontline workers started on February 2.

  • India records 13,993 new COVID-19 cases, highest in 22 days

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Daily COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to about 14,000 after nearly 22 days taking India’s tally to 1,09,77,387, while the recoveries surged to 1,06,78,048, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

    A total of 13,993 new cases were registered in a span of 24 hours.

    The death toll increased to 101 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    On January 29, 18,855 daily cases were recorded.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,78,048 which translates to a national recovery rate of 97.27 per cent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent.

    The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 1.5 lakh.

    There are 1,43,127 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.27 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29,  90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

    According to the ICMR, 21,02,61,480 samples have been tested up to February 19, with 7,86,618 samples being tested on Friday.

    The 101 new fatalities included 44 deaths from Maharashtra, 15 from Kerala and 8 from Punjab.

    A total of 1,56,212 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 51,713 from Maharashtra followed by 12,451 from Tamil Nadu, 12,287 from Karnataka, 10,897 from Delhi, 10,242 from West Bengal, 8,712 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,167 from Andhra Pradesh.

    The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • Government being overconfident about COVID, it’s not over yet: Rahul Gandhi

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the Centre of being “grossly” negligent and overconfident about the handling of the coronavirus situation, saying the pandemic was not over yet.

    The comments came after South African and Brazilian variants of the pathogen were reported to have entered India.

    “GOI is being grossly negligent and over confident about Covid-19. It’s not over yet,” Gandhi tweeted.

    For the first time in India, four people were detected with the South Africa variant of SARS-CoV-2 and one tested positive for the Brazil variant in the country, the health minister has said.

    In India, the South Africa strain has been detected in four returnees, one from Angola, one from Tanzania and two from South Africa in January, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said.

    With 11,610 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,09,37,320 on Wednesday, while the number of recoveries has surged to 1,06,44,858, the ministry said.

    The death has gone up to 1,55,913 in the country with 100 more fatalities reported in a 24-hour period, as per the ministry’s data.

  • India records 11,610 fresh COVID-19 cases, 100 more fatalities; recovery rate 97.33 per cent

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: With 11,610 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,09,37,320, while the number of recoveries has surged to 1,06,44,858, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.

    The death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 1,55,913 in the country with 100 more fatalities reported in a 24-hour period, the ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed.

    The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has climbed to 1,06,44,858, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.33 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.43 per cent.

    There are 1,36,549 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country currently, which account for only 1.25 per cent of its total caseload, the data stated.

    India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

    According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 20,79,77,229   samples have so far been tested for the viral disease in the country, including 6,44,931 on Tuesday.

    The 100 new fatalities include 39 from Maharashtra, 18 from Kerala and seven from Tamil Nadu.

    Of the total 1,55,913 COVID-19 deaths reported so far in the country, Maharashtra accounts for the highest number of 51,591, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,432), Karnataka (12,273), Delhi (10,894), West Bengal (10,235), Uttar Pradesh (8,704) and Andhra Pradesh (7,163).

    The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

    “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that a state-wise distribution of the figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

  • Amanda Holden escapes fine for breaching COVID protocol?

    By IANS
    LONDON: Actress Amanda Holden is reportedly not going to face any fine for breaching Covid protocol when she made a round trip from London to Cornwall amid lockdown.

    “Officers turned up at her parents’ this afternoon to ask about the visit. As they left they said this would be the end of the matter,” a source said, according to a report in thesun.co.uk.

    The actor’s spokesperson explained the situation, too: “Amanda is aware that all families are going through difficulty during these turbulent times but received a distressing telephone call from her elderly father. On balance Amanda felt the round trip necessary to contain the matter at her family home. The situation has now been aided and Amanda is back in London. She did not act on a whim and has adhered to Covid rules every step of the way in all lockdowns.”

  • Chhattisgarh government says won’t use Covaxin till phase three trial is over

    By PTI
    RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh health minister TS Singh Deo has said that the state government will not use the indigenously developed Covaxin vaccine against coronavirus until its final phase of trials is completed.

    He had written a letter to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, requesting not to send Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin till all trials are over, the minister said on Wednesday.

    The Union government has allowed the use of Covishield vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and Covaxin developed Bharat Biotech for the COVID-19 inoculation program in the country.

    Singh Deo said Phase-3 trial of Covaxin is not complete, and consent forms sent with Covaxin doses, to be filled by the person administering it, underline this fact.

    The government can not be expected to complete a trial which the company is supposed to do, he said, adding that the vaccine would be used in Chhattisgarh once the final phase of trials is completed successfully.

    As per state officials, 66 per cent of 2.74 lakh health workers selected for the first phase of inoculation have received the jab so far.

    Chhattisgarh had received about 5.55 lakh doses of Covishield and over 70,000 doses of Covaxin, but the state government had not given its consent to use Covaxin, officials said.

    Opposition BJP, meanwhile, accused the Congress government in the state of adopting a stubborn approach over the use of Covaxin.

    Party spokesperson and former minister Ajay Chandrakar said the state government and Singh Deo were trying to get political mileage over Covaxin when it is in demand and being used globally.

    The Union government allowed the use of Covaxin following all necessary tests, he said.

  • PM Narendra Modi should take COVID vaccine shot in public: DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran

    DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran said that PM Narendra Modi should take a COVID vaccine shot in public as such a move will give confidence to people.

  • Jailed gangster Arun Gawli tests positive for coronavirus

    By PTI
    NAGPUR: Five inmates of Nagpur Central Prison including gangster Arun Gawli tested positive for coronavirus infection on Wednesday, an official said.

    Gawli (65) is serving life sentence in the case related to Shiv Sena leader Kamlakar Jamsandekar’s murder.

    Jail superintendent Anup Kumre said Gawli and four other inmates were found to have contracted the virus, and they are being treated by prison doctors.

    Gawli was tested for the viral infection after he took ill on Monday, Kumre said.