News Analysis India

Tag: Coronavirus Outbreak

  • EC nod to use its data for COVID vaccination drive; wants data to be deleted after exercise is over

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission will extend “full assistance” to the government in identifying targeted beneficiaries at the polling station level for the COVID-19 vaccination drive, but wants health authorities to delete the data once the inoculation exercise is over, sources privy to the development said on Friday.

    On December 31 last year, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora requesting the commission’s help in identifying people above 50 years of age at the polling station level, the sources said.

    On the issue of data security, the home secretary wrote that the government is complying with the current best practices for ensuring cybersecurity.

    He has assured the poll panel that the data will be used only for the purpose of vaccination, the sources said.

    The Election Commission (EC), after detailed deliberations, wrote back to the home secretary on January 4, saying it has decided to render “full assistance” in the vaccination drive.

    But asked the government to ensure that the data is strictly used for the limited purpose for which it has been sought, the sources said.

    The commission also said that the data should be deleted by health authorities once the vaccination exercise concludes, they said.

    Some senior EC officials will be in touch with nodal officers of the Union home ministry and the Union health ministry to settle day-to-day issues, the sources said.

    Last month, officials of the Union health ministry and the Niti Aayog had met the EC top brass seeking their help in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccine given the poll panel’s robust network at the booth level.

    The letter by the home secretary is a follow up to the meeting, the sources said.

    According to guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the latest electoral roll for Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be used to identify the priority population over the age of 50 years.

    Twelve identity documents, such as Voter ID, Aadhaar card, driving licence, passport and pension document, will be required for beneficiary identification.

    According to the government, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities.

    Cost of vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers will be borne by the central government.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conference.

    The Drugs Controller General of India had recently approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

  • PM Narendra Modi’s meeting with CMs today to discuss COVID-19 situation, vaccination rollout

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday will interact with chief ministers of all states via video conferencing to discuss the COVID-19 situation and coronavirus vaccination rollout.

    “At 4 PM on Monday 11th January, PM Narendra Modi will interact with Chief Ministers of all states via video conferencing. They will discuss the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination rollout,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had tweeted.

    Days after COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech were been granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has announced that the coronavirus vaccination drive in the country will start from January 16.

    The Prime Minister had earlier chaired several meetings with chief ministers in this regard.

    On January 9, he had chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in the country along with the preparedness of the State/Union Territories for COVID vaccination.

    The roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine will provide priority to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers who are estimated to be around 3 crores, followed by those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 crores.

    India’s coronavirus tally on Sunday reached 1,04,50,284 including 2,23,335 active cases while the death toll climbed to 1,50,999.

  • Determined efforts needed to bring economy back on track: Vice President Venkaiah Naidu

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said while vaccines do offer hope of shielding people from COVID-19, determined efforts are needed to bring the country’s economic growth back on track.

    Naidu was speaking at Goa Legislators’ Day event in Porvorim near here, in presence of Governor B S Koshyari, Speaker of Legislative Assembly Rajesh Patnekar, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant among others.

    “India and the world are passing through difficult times with the COVID-19 pandemic compounding the situation caused by the economic slide that was unfolding even earlier,” the Vice President said.

    “Vaccines do offer the hope of shielding people from the disease, but return to the potential economic growth trajectory calls for determined efforts,” he said.

    The Centre has been undertaking a series of reforms to unleash the growth potential since only a robust economic growth can help meet the aspirations of people, Naidu said.

    Legislators across the country need to seriously reflect on the challenging situation that the country is facing and mount a national effort to come out of it at the earliest, Naidu added.

    The Vice President further said that while the year 2020 had gotten off to a notorious start with the COVID-19 outbreak, people have ushered in this new year with a sense of hope, with scientists from the country and world coming out with vaccines.

    Last year, India rose to the occasion as one collective entity in handling the pandemic with considerable results, Naidu said.

    Given the state of the health infrastructure in the country, the demographic conditions and socio-economic inequalities, India was expected to be severely impacted in terms of caseload, mortalities and consequences, he said.

    “However, due to the national resolve demonstrated, we could contain the scale of damage remarkably and it is being acknowledged both within and outside the country,” the Vice President added.

  • PM Narendra Modi to interact with chief ministers on Monday over COVID situation, vaccine roll-out

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with chief ministers of all states on January 11 to discuss the COVID-19 situation and the vaccination roll-out in the country, his office said on Friday.

    This will be Modi’s first interaction with chief ministers following the recent approval of two coronavirus vaccines for restricted emergency use by India’s drug regulator.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    The prime minister has often spoken with state chief ministers following the pandemic’s outbreak in the country.

    India is preparing for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and the second nationwide mock drill on the drive was conducted on Friday.

    India’s drugs regulator has approved Oxford vaccine Covishield, being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.

  • Bharat Biotech complete enrollment of 25,800 volunteers for Covaxin Phase-3 trials

    By PTI
    HYDERABAD: Bharat Biotech has completed enrollment of 25,800 volunteers for the Phase-3 trials of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, Suchitra Ella, joint managing director, Bharat Biotech International Ltd said on Thursday.

    In a message posted on the company’s Twitter account, she thanked clinical trial sites, principal investigators and health workers for their support and trust in the “public- private partnership” vaccine discovery.

    ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run on Friday, this time in all districts

    “My deep appreciation to all the volunteers for reposing and expressing Pro Vaccine Public Health Voluntarism in the phase-3 clinical trials of India’s 1st fully indigenous COVID-19 vaccine,” she said referring to Covaxin.

    The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has recently given Emergency Use Authorisation for Covaxin.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    The Phase III human clinical trials of Covaxin began mid-November, targeted to be done in 26,000 volunteers across India.

    The company had said it is the only Phase-3 efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine, and the largest efficacy trial (Phase-3) ever conducted for any vaccine in India.

  • Centre asks four states to take prompt steps to curb recent spike in COVID-19 cases

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked four states recording a surge in COVID-19 cases — Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal — to maintain a “strict vigil” and take steps to curb the recent spike.

    Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written to these states to draw their attention “to the low and declining testing rates in the states, stating that any laxity at this crucial junction may squander the results of our collective actions in containing the transmission”, according to a health ministry statement.

    The states have been advised to maintain a “strict vigil” and to take steps to keep a check on the rising cases, especially in view of the new strain of the virus being observed in a few states in India.

    They have been advised to analyse the surge at the district and sub-district levels to understand the reasons for this rise and plan adequate measures proactively to curb the same.

    ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run on Friday, this time in all districts

    Aggressive implementation of the “test-track-treat” strategy adopted by the country has been strongly advised now more than ever by the health secretary.

    The health authorities in the states have also been advised to proactively promote wearing of masks and other COVID-19-appropriate behaviours, while the vaccination drive is about to begin.

    “It is important to ensure that there is no complacency in the collective efforts in containment and management of COVID-19,” the health secretary said.

    ALSO READ: Odisha reports zero new COVID-19 deaths for first time in more than six months

    The states have been assured of all necessary support of the health ministry required to manage the pandemic.

    “The four states comprise 59 per cent of the total active cases in the country,” the ministry said.

    The total COVID-19 cases in Kerala are 7,90,882 which form 7.61 per cent of the total cases.

    The active cases stand at 65,252, accounting for 28.61 per cent of the total national figure.

    Total number of recovered cases is 7,22,421, accounting for a recovery rate of 91.34, while the total deaths in the state are 3,209 with a case fatality rate (CFR) of 0.41 per cent, the statement said.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    “The daily average cases in Kerala in the last 7 days are 5,023 whereas daily average deaths in the last 7 days are 23. The tests per million (TPM) of Kerala stand at 1,96,432 and positivity rate is 11.28 per cent,” the statement stated.

    The health secretary has expressed concern over the dip in the overall tests in the past two weeks in the state combined with an increase in the positivity rate.

    The weekly positivity rate has been consistently above 11 per cent for the past two weeks, while the case positivity rate for the country is less than 2.5 per cent for the same period, the statement stated.

    ALSO READ: European Union’s medicines agency ponders approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine

    In view of the above, a high-level central team led by Dr S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), has been rushed by the central government to Kerala.

    The team will review the public health interventions in management of COVID-19 by the state government and support the state health authorities in these measures, the ministry said.

    Total cases in Maharashtra stand at 19,54,553, accounting for 18.80 per cent of the national figure.

    A total of 18,52,759 patients have recovered in the state, resulting in a recovery rate of 94.79 per cent.

    The active cases in the state are 51,969 (amounting for 22.79 per cent of national figure).

    The state has reported a total of 49,825 fatalities, with a CFR of 2.55 per cent.

    The daily average cases in Maharashtra in the last 7 days are 3,707 and daily average deaths in the last 7 days are 51, the statement said.

    The TPM is 1,02,870 while the state positivity rate is pegged at 15.43 per cent, it said.

    Chhattisgarh has registered 2,85,586 cases (with percentage share in total being 2.75 per cent) and 2,73,030 total number of recoveries with a recovery rate of 95.60 per cent.

    The active cases as on date are 9,109 (3.99 per cent share in the national pie).

    The numbers of fatalities in the state is 3,447 and the case fatality rate is 1.21 per cent.

    Daily average cases in Chhattisgarh in the last 7 days are 1,006 whereas daily average deaths in the last 7 days are 13, the statement said.

    TPM is 1,16,744 with a positivity rate of 8.31 per cent.

    West Bengal is reporting 5,57,252 cases (5.36 per cent of the total cases in the country).

    A total 5,38,521 persons have recovered taking the recovery rate to 96.64 per cent.

    It has 8,868 active cases, accounting for 3.89 per cent of the national figure.

    There have been 9,863 total deaths in the state with a case fatality rate of 1.77 per cent.

    The daily average cases in West Bengal in the last 7 days are 908 and daily average deaths are 25.

    The number of TPM is 71,762 and the positivity rate is 7.80 per cent, the ministry said.

  • Schools reopen in Punjab for classes 5 to 12

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: Schools in Punjab reopened for students of classes 5 to 12 on Thursday, allowing children to return to classrooms after months of online learning.

    Schools across states, including Punjab, have largely remained closed since March last year when the country was placed under lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

    School authorities said they strictly adhered to coronavirus-related safety guidelines and teachers ensured children maintained social distancing.

    ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run on Friday, this time in all districts

    Some schools also provided masks to students.

    Students said they were excited to be meeting their classmates and teachers after long.

    In Hoshiarpur, students of Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Talwara were a happy lot as they entered the school premises.

    ALSO READ: Odisha reports zero new COVID-19 deaths for first time in more than six months

    They were given a warm welcome by the school principal and teachers upon their arrival.

    School principal Suresh Kumari said out of 740 students, 625 attended school.

    All benches were sanitised ahead of the opening of the school.

    Several parents, who came to attend the parent-teacher meeting, also expressed happiness over the reopening of schools and said they had been waiting for it for a long time.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    Jasandeep Kaur, a Class 6 student, said she was overjoyed to have come to school after a long time and meet her teachers and classmates.

    District Education Officer (Secondary) Harjit Singh and District Education Officer (Primary) Sanjiv Gautam said attendance in schools was good.

    In Amritsar, most schools saw around 50 per cent attendance, according to officials.

    District Education Officer Satinderbir Singh said, “Today was the first day and most parents and students were not aware of the reopening of schools across Punjab.”

    He said in the coming days, more students will return to schools.

    The consent of students’ parents was taken for sending them to schools, he added.

    Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla had on Wednesday said that following the persistent demand of parents, the state government had decided to reopen all government, semi-government and private schools from January 7.

    The school timings will be from 10 am to 3 pm.

  • Second COVID vaccination dry run across country on January 8

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: As a simulation of the actual execution of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out that is expected to begin in a few days, another round of dry run will be conducted in all districts across states and UTs, except UP and Haryana, on January 8 to ensure efficient planning and management of the immunisation process.

    Each district will identify three types of session sites, similar to the previous dry run conducted on January 2, including a public health facility (district hospital/medical college), private health facility and rural or urban outreach sites, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday.

    In this regard, a meeting of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan with the health ministers of states and Union territories is scheduled to take place on January 7 to guide them on conducting the dry run, the ministry said.

    ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run on Friday, this time in all districts

    “The vaccine dry run will be conducted on January 8 in all districts across India, except for UP and Haryana. COVID-19 vaccine dry run has already been conducted in all districts in UP on January 5 and Haryana is conducting it in all its districts tomorrow (Thursday),” an official source said.

    “The Central government is gearing up for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine across the country. Union Ministry of Health has been pro-actively carrying out the preparations for roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine, in collaboration with states and UTs and all stakeholders, over the past couple of months to ensure that the preparations for roll-out are on track,” the ministry said in a statement.

    The country’s drugs regulator on Sunday approved Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and the indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    “The roll out of COVID-19 vaccine is expected to begin in the near future. This milestone entails the need for testing of all planned mechanisms for conducting the vaccination drive in the country,” the ministry said.

    The entire planning of the vaccination drive including beneficiary registration, microplanning and vaccination at the planned session site will be tested under the leadership of District Collector or District Magistrate during the dry run.

    The dry run will also familiarize the state, district, block and hospital level officers on all aspects of the COVID vaccine roll out.

    ALSO READ: European Union’s medicines agency ponders approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine

    “This activity will help administrators in strengthening the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identification of any residual challenges prior to the actual implementation and to provide confidence to the programme managers at all levels to carry out a smooth implementation of the vaccination drive,” the ministry said.

    The Union health ministry will be in constant touch with the states and UTs throughout the day to seek feedback, provide support and ensure timely resolution of the identified challenges before the actual vaccination roll-out.

    To facilitate the entire vaccination process a software named ‘Co-WIN’ has been developed by the health ministry for real time information on vaccine stocks, their storage temperature and individualized tracking of beneficiaries for the coronavirus vaccine.

    ALSO READ: Odisha reports zero new COVID-19 deaths for first time in more than six months

    This software will assist the programme managers across all levels in conduct of the vaccination sessions.

    A dedicated 24×7 call centre has also been established for technical queries of Co-WIN users.

    The cold chain infrastructure (like walk-in-freezers, walk-in-coolers, ice-lined refrigerators, deep freezers) along with sufficient supplies of syringes and other logistics have been ensured to begin COVID-19 vaccination drive.

    Around 1.7 lakh vaccinators and 3 lakh vaccination team members have been trained on the process to be followed at the vaccination sites which include beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain and logistics management, bio-medical waste management, AEFI management and reporting on Co-WIN software.

    In a massive nation-wide exercise on January 2, an end-to-end mock drill on COVID-19 vaccine administration was conducted in all states and UTs at 286 session sites spread across 125 districts.

    More than 75 lakh beneficiaries have been registered till date on the Co-WIN software, the ministry had said earlier.

    The entire operational planning and IT platform has been field tested in four states — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Punjab and Gujarat — on December 28 and 29 and on the basis of the feedback received minor enhancements have been made in the IT system, it had said.

  • Narendra Modi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel ​hold video-teleconference; PM briefs on COVID vaccine development

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video-teleconference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday and briefed her on COVID-19 vaccine development in India, while also assuring her of the country’s commitment to deploy its capacities for the benefit of the world.

    “As we celebrate 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relationship and 20th anniversary of our Strategic Partnership with Germany this year, Chancellor Merkel and I had a fruitful video call today,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

    He also thanked Merkel for her longstanding personal commitment to deepening India-Germany ties.

    ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run on Friday, this time in all districts

    “We also exchanged views on other regional and global issues, including COVID-19 pandemic,” Modi tweeted.

    A Prime Minister’s Office statement said Modi appreciated the long-standing role of Chancellor Merkel in providing stable and strong leadership at the European and global stage, and thanked her for guiding the growth of the India-Germany Strategic Partnership.

    ALSO READ: Odisha reports zero new COVID-19 deaths for first time in more than six months

    The two leaders discussed key issues of mutual importance including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral ties, regional and global issues, particularly India-EU relations, the PMO said.

    The prime minister briefed Chancellor Merkel on the developments in India with regard to vaccine development and assured the chancellor of India’s commitment to deploy its capacities for the benefit of the world, the statement said.

    ALSO READ: India, Sri Lanka looking at post-COVID cooperation: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar

    “He conveyed his best wishes for early containment of the new wave of infections in Germany and other European countries,” it said.

    Prime Minister Modi also welcomed Germany’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and expressed his desire to further strengthen cooperation with Germany under the platform of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

    ALSO READ: European Union’s medicines agency ponders approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine

    Noting that this year marks the 70th anniversary of setting up of bilateral relations between India and Germany and 20th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership, the two leaders agreed to hold the sixth Inter-Governmental Consultations (IGC) at an early date in 2021 and to set an ambitious agenda for the same, the statement said.

  • Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat returns after treatment from Delhi

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat returned here on Wednesday from Delhi after recovering from Covid-19.

    “Due to your prayers and the blessings of Bhagwan Badri Vishal and Baba Kedar, I have returned from the hospital after recovering fully. I am back in your midst to dedicate myself once again to public service,” Rawat said in a tweet.

    Though discharged from AIIMS, Delhi on January 2, he was under home isolation at his residence in the national capital since then.

    Rawat who was in home isolation in Dehradun after testing positive for Covid-19 on December 18 had to be admitted to government Doon Medical College here on December 27 after he developed fever.

    He was referred to AIIMS, Delhi on December 28 after being detected with a mild lung infection.