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Coronavirus News Live Updates: Today is the 319th day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. So far, India has recorded 1,08,14,304 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 1,54,918 deaths. A total of 1,05,10,796 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far. There are 1,48,590 active cases in the country as of date, which comprises 1.37 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 97.16 percent. Globally, over 10.5 crore people have been infected by the coronavirus and 22.96 lakh have died so far. India, along with many countries, has granted emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines and has started the process of vaccinating healthcare workers and high-risk groups. India's regulator has granted restricted emergency use approval for two vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin. Nearly 53 lakh people have been s0 far given their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in India.
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The National Public Health Center, Hungary's top regulatory body,approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for use. The Center concluded the official study, and arrived at theconclusion that the vaccinecomplies with quality requirements and can be administered onhumans, reported Russian news agency TASS.
The UK reported 15,845 new COVID-19 infections, taking the total to 3,945,680. The per-day count has decellerated as compared to a week ago, as over 21,000 infections were reported on January 31. In the last 24 hours, the health department also recorded373 deaths.
The United Kingdom, which has the highest rate of vaccination so far, has completed the inocilation of 12 million, as per the government data. The numbers include12,014,288 given the first shot and511,447 benefeciaries who have been administered with both the doses.
Developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine expect to have a modified jab to cope with the South Africa coronavirus variant by autumn, the vaccine’s lead researcher said on February 7.
Health officials in Britain are trying to contain the spread of the variant first identified in South Africa amid concerns that it is more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. More than 100 cases of the South African variant have been found in the UK. (AP)
A half-million doses of Covid vaccines gifted by India to Afghanistan arrived at Kabul today. Acting minister of public health of Afghanistan Waheed Majroh received the vaccine consignment from Charge d'Affaires Raghuram S at Hamid Karzai International Airport: Embassy of India in Kabul
"The cumulative number of healthcare workers and frontline workers vaccinated against Covid-19 is 58,03,617 as of 6:40 pm today, as per the provisional report. Total of 1,16,478 sessions have been held so far. 1,295 sessions were held till 6:40 pm today," the Union Health Ministry said in its latest update.
The northeastern state of Manipur reported 9 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours. The state health department also confirmed that 18 patients had recovered or weredischarged in the corresponding period.
Scotland, health secretary Jeane Freeman said the country is aiming to vaccinate "each adult" by the completion of summer.To attain the target, the health department would require to inoculate nearly 4.5 million persons.
With the detection of new South African variant of COVID-19, herd immunity can no longer be a goal in the UK, said researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand.Andrew Pollard, Professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity, and Chief Investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said the goal is to minimise the fatality rate by preventing people from contracting severe infection and dying.
Kerala, which has been reporting the highest number of new cases over the past several days, reported a total of 6,075 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours. The corresponding period also witnessed 5,948 recoveries and 19 deaths in the state.
Nepal concluded the first phase of COVID-19 vaccine drive in the country after inoculating 184,857 persons with a single dose. The country has received over one million doses of Indian-made vaccine against coronavirus.
