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Coronavirus News Highlights: India logged 36,571 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,23,58,829, while the national recovery rate improved to 97.54 percent, the highest since March 2020, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The active cases have declined to 3,63,605, the lowest in 150 days, and comprise 1.12 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, the ministry said. A reduction of 524 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. As many as 18,86,271 tests were conducted on Thursday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 50,26,99,702. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 percent. It has been less than three percent for the last 25 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.93 percent. It has been below three percent for the last 56 days, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,15,61,635, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 percent, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
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Punjab on Friday reported three more Covid-related deaths, taking the toll to 16,351, while 59 new cases pushed the infection tally to 6,00,180, according to a medical bulletin.
The fatalities were reported from Fazilka, Gurdaspur and Mohali. The toll includes one death which was not reported earlier.
The number of active cases dropped to 538 from 571 on Thursday.
Amritsar reported 15 new cases, followed by Mohali (7), and Faridkot (6) among other places.
Chhattisgarh''s COVID-19 tally reached 10,04,043 on Friday after 48 people were detected with the infection, while one death took the toll to 13,552, a health official said.
The recovery count reached 9,89,560 after 13 people were discharged from hospitals and 62 completed home isolation, leaving the state with 931 active cases, he informed.
Maharashtra reported 4,365 new coronavirus cases and 105 deaths on Friday, while 6,384 patients recovered from the viral infection, a health department official said.
The state''s infection tally thus rose to 64,15,935, while the death toll reached 1,35,672.
Nandurbar district in north Maharashtra did not record a single active COVID-19 case for the fifth day in a row.
Mumbai on Friday reported 322 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections in the city to 7,40,612, while six new fatalities pushed the death toll to 15,941, a civic official said.
People who have recovered from coronavirus can safely donate their kidneys, according to the findings of a multi-centre study based on 31 transplant cases.The transplant surgeries were conducted after the first wave of the pandemic between July and September last year. All donors were those who had mild infection.The study was prompted by the unavailability of literature on kidney transplants in case the donor is a person who has recovered from COVID-19, said Dr Sanjiv Gulati, director, Nephrology, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj.Gulati, who is one of the authors of the study, said there is a huge shortage of kidney donors.He said, "This is because there are smaller families these days and in many cases, diabetes runs in the family. Then there is the added fear of coronavirus. What can we do if people who have recovered from coronavirus are donors?"Gulati said there was an apprehension that in case the person donating the kidney was someone who recovered from COVID-19, a low degree of coronavirus could be transferred to the recipient during the transplant process.
Over 1.44 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the national capital on Thursday, according to the Delhi government's vaccination bulletin.The bulletin issued on Friday showed that 1,06,728 people received their first dose while 38,192 were administered the second dose of Covid vaccine.The city has administered 1,21,16,533 Covid vaccines so far, of which 86,86,698 were first doses and 34,29,835 second doses, it showed.As of Friday morning, the national capital had only two days of vaccine stocks left, the bulletin claimed.Delhi had a balance stock of 4,07,270 coronavirus vaccines, of which 2,02,280 doses were of Covishield and 2,04,990 of Covaxin.The national capital has 915 Covid vaccination centres with a capacity of inoculating 1,77,496 beneficiaries per day.
Apple has delayed return to office until at least January 2022, as the US witnesses a surge in cases of the delta variant of COVID-19.The iPhone maker said the employees would get a month's notice before they rejoin work in-person, reports The Verge, citing an internal email.
Scientists have criticised the US decision to roll out Covid booster shots for all Americans stating that the data isn't compelling, the media reports said.Top US health officials including CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr Janet Woodcock, and White House chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci, had this week, announced plans for a third dose of Covid vaccine eight months after a second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.Experts argue this move is a misuse of resources and not based on data, Daily Mail reported.The approval was not based on scientific evidence but rather on panic and fear, Dr Anna Durbin, an international Health professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland was quoted as saying.
Active cases: 1,82,285
Death toll: 19,345
1,19,385 samples tested for COVID in the last 24 hours.
Test positivity rate is 16.94%
Over 1.44 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in the national capital on Thursday, according to the Delhi government's vaccination bulletin.The bulletin issued on Friday showed that 1,06,728 people received their first dose while 38,192 were administered the second dose of Covid vaccine.The city has administered 1,21,16,533 Covid vaccines so far, of which 86,86,698 were first doses and 34,29,835 second doses, it showed.As of Friday morning, the national capital had only two days of vaccine stocks left, the bulletin claimed.Delhi had a balance stock of 4,07,270 coronavirus vaccines, of which 2,02,280 doses were of Covishield and 2,04,990 of Covaxin.The national capital has 915 Covid vaccination centres with a capacity of inoculating 1,77,496 beneficiaries per day.
The Philippines reported Friday its highest daily number of coronavirus infections, as authorities eased a lockdown in the capital to allow more businesses to operate and reduce the financial pain of poor families.More than 13 million people in the national capital region went into lockdown on August 6 as the hyper-contagious Delta variant helped drive a resurgence in infections that has strained hospitals.A Covid-19 task force agreed Thursday to allow more businesses to open their doors from Saturday. But a stay-at-home order for non-essential workers would remain in place and restaurant dining banned. (AFP)
