Coronavirus News Highlights: India reports 16,738 new COVID-19 cases; highest since January 29

This LIVE blog session has concluded. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol for the latest news, views and updates.

Gujarat recorded 424 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, 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.

This mark was breached on Thursday when Gujarat recorded 424 fresh cases, taking the infection tally to 2,68,571, said a release by the health department.

The Czech Republic has confirmed its first case of the COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry had reported some new COVID-19 infections suspected to be from the South African variant this week.

The central European country has sought to rein in a fast-rising COVID-19 infection rate, which has also been accelerated by the spread of the British variant of the virus in past weeks.

Nagaland on Thursday reported six fresh cases of COVID-19, which took the state''s tally to 12,198, a health official said. No COVID-19 case was reported in the northeastern state between Monday and Wednesday.

"6 +ve cases of COVID-19 reported today. 5 in Kohima and 1 in Dimapur. Also, 1 +ve patient of COVID-19 recovered in Dimapur," Minister for Health, S Pangnyu Phom tweeted. As many as 11,942 patients have recovered from the infection so far and the state now has 13 active cases, he said.

Punjab reports 566 new COVID-19cases, 278 recoveries and 13 deaths today. Total cases: 1,80,382, Total recoveries: 1,70,713, Death toll: 5,799, Active cases: 3870.

China's National Medical Products Administration said on Thursday that it had approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for public use, increasing the number of domestic vaccines approved in China to four. The two newly approved vaccines are made by CanSino Biologics Inc and Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). They join a vaccine from Sinovac Biotech approved earlier this month, and another from Sinopharm's Beijing unit approved last year. So far, China has not approved COVID-19 vaccines developed by Western drug makers. Sinopharm's Wuhan unit said on Wednesday its vaccine had an efficacy rate of 72.51 percent against the COVID-19 disease caused by the virus, citing interim analysis of late-stage clinical trial data, without offering more details. It is one of two candidates from Sinopharm that have entered Phase III clinical trials overseas, and was earlier given to a limited group of people at higher infection risk. The four approved Chinese vaccines can be stored at normal freezer temperatures, making them a potentially attractive option for developing countries which might have difficulty deploying vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna that require much colder temperatures for longer-term storage. China has been exporting the Sinovac and earlier Sinopharm vaccines to countries around the world. (Reuters)

Delhi recorded 220 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest number of single-day incidences in February, while no fresh death was registered, as per data shared by officials.This is the fourth time the single-day fatality count has been nil this month.On Wednesday, 200 COVID-19 cases and two new deaths were registered, pushing the toll to 10,905.On all preceding days, spanning February 1-23, the count of daily cases had been recorded below 200.Delhi hadrecorded 199 fresh COVID-19 cases on January 28.From January 15-26, the daily figures ranged from 148 on January 25 to 299 on January 16, according to official data.No COVID-19-related death was recorded in Delhi on February 17, the third time single-day fatality count had stood nil in this month.On February 9 too, no fatality from coronavirus infection was registered, the first time this month, and after a gap of nearly nine months.No death from COVID-19 was recorded on February 13 as well.On Thursday, Delhirecorded 220 fresh COVID-19 cases, while thepositivity rate stood at 0.34 percent, authorities said, adding that the infection tally in the city rose to 6,38,593, according to the latest health bulletin issued by the city government.These new cases came out of the 63,998 testsconducted the previous day, according to the health bulletin.Delhihad recorded 94 fresh COVID-19 cases on February 16, the lowest in over nine months.Delhi hadrecorded 96 coronavirus cases on January 27, that time the lowest in over nine months, and the first time the daily incidences count had stood below the 100-mark in that month.The active cases tally on Thursday rose to 1169 from 1137 the previous day, according to the bulletin.Thetotal number of tests conducted the previous day, included 41,260 RT-PCR tests and 22,738 rapid antigen tests, the bulletin said.The number of people under home isolation as on Thursday was 536, it said. (PTI)

India has offered 'Made in India' vaccines to all eligible members of the diplomatic core and their families, diplomats of UN agencies and those working in inter-governmental orgs. This vaccination drive for diplomats covers all locations where they are based.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says if a coronavirus vaccine is available, regardless of which one, take it.The top USinfectious disease expert told NBC on Thursday a third vaccine becoming available “is nothing but good news” and would help control of the pandemic.USregulators announced on Wednesday that Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine offers strong protection against severe COVID-19. It's expected to be approved soon by the FDA.Fauci warns people not to hold off on getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while waiting for the slightly more effective Pfizer or Moderna shots.He says it's a race “between the virus and getting vaccines into people” and “the longer one waits not getting vaccinated, the better chance the virus has to get a variant or a mutation.”Fauci says public health officials are always concerned about virus variants and stressed following public health measures of wearing masks and social distancing.The predominant coronavirus variant in the United States is from Britain. Fauci says the vaccines distributed in the US“clearly can take care of that particular strain.”

As many as 71 persons tested positive for coronavirus, while two died of the infection in Goa on Thursday, an official from the health department said.With the addition of latest cases, the state's COVID- 19 tally has reached 54,771 and toll stood at 791, the official said.As many as 33 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recoveries to 53,449, he said.The coastal state is now left with 531 active cases, the official said.At least 1,632 samples were tested during the day, taking the total number of tests conducted in the state so far to 4,88,742, he added.Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 54,771, new cases 71, death toll 791, discharged 53,449, active cases 531, samples tested till date 4,88,742. (PTI)

The French government said on Thursday it would tighten controls at the German border to fight Covid-19 which is spreading faster in the eastern Moselle region than elsewhere in France.From Monday, cross-border workers commuting between Germany and Moselle will have to undergo a weekly PCR test before being allowed across, Health Minister Olivier Veran and European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said in a joint statement.The move follows a warning from the German government last week that it was considering expanding new travel restrictions to its French border over the rise in coronavirus variants in the Moselle region.It comes as EU leaders held a video summit to discuss Covid-related issues, including border closures, over which Germany and other members have been rapped by the European Commission.French workers regularly crossing the border with Luxembourg are not targeted by the new requirement.Elsewhere, the current rule that travellers other than cross-border workers arriving from another EU country must present a negative PCR test remains in force.The French ministers said that joint French-German border police patrols "could be reinforced" to ensure compliance.Asked last week about the situation in France, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said Berlin was "continuing to monitor the situation and continually reviewing our measures to fight the pandemic".Seibert's comments came shortly after Beaune urged Germany not to close its borders with France."We do not want Germany to shut the border completely," he said.

Pfizer and BioNTech said Thursday they are studying adding a third dose to their vaccine regime and testing a new version targeting the South African variant of the coronavirus. As countries around the world rush to vaccinate people, concerns have risen that more transmissible variants such as the one first detected in South Africa or another in Britain are more resistant to existing vaccines.In one study, the US and German pharmaceutical firms said they would look at what happens when people are given a third dose of their two-shot vaccine, six to 12 months after the booster.They said in a statement they are also talking to regulators about testing a modified version of their original vaccine to address the South African variant known as B.1.351."We are taking multiple steps to act decisively and be ready in case a strain becomes resistant to the protection afforded by the vaccine," Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO, said in a statement. (AFP)