Coronavirus News Highlights: FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces Rs 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines

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Israel said on Monday it supplied the Palestinians with their first shipment of COVID-19 shots, totalling 2,000 doses of Moderna's vaccine. The vaccines were transferred into the occupied West Bank and will be used by Palestinian Authority medical teams, according to a statement by COGAT, Israel's military liaison to the Palestinians. A Palestinian official confirmed the delivery without disclosing any further details. Israel has earmarked an additional 3,000 doses for the Palestinians, said a COGAT official. Israel has emerged as a world leader in vaccinating its citizens and the Palestinian Authority has separately been trying to secure its own doses. It has ordered a batch of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.

As many as 5,700 people were administered the COVID-19 vaccine in Himachal Pradesh on Monday, taking the number of those who have received the jabs so far in the state to 33,452, a senior health official said.A total of 7,614 health workers were to be administered the vaccine across 85 sessions Monday, out of which 5,700 could be given the jabs which is 75 percent coverage, he said.The total number of people vaccinated for the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the state has now risen to 33,452 against a target of around 77,000 by February 9, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said.A total of 27,752 people were administered vaccine till January 30.The vaccination drive in the state began on January 16 when 1,536 members of the medical fraternity were given the jabs.As many as 3,299 people were vaccinated on January 18, 232 on January 19, 45 on January 20,686 on January 21, 3,819 on January 22, 3,935 on January 23, 510 on January 27 and 4,794 on January 28, 4,070 on January 29 and 4,816 on January 30.

The number of people in Britain who were newly recorded dying within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test dropped to 406 on Monday from 587 on Sunday, the lowest daily number since Dec. 28, government figures showed on Monday.The number of people who tested positive for the disease dropped to 18,607, the lowest since December15.Both deaths and positive test results are typically lower on Mondays than other days of the week.The number of people who have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine rose to 9.296 million from 8.977 million the day before. (Reuters)

Punjab reported 197 coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the state's infection count to 1,73,470, while one death pushed the overall toll to 5,616, according to a medical bulletin.There are 2,101 active COVID-19 cases in the state as of now, it said.Among the fresh infections witnessed in the state, Ludhiana accounted for 50 new cases, Jalandhar 27 and Mohali 20.A total of 220 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of recoveries to 1,65,753, as per the bulletin.The state has nine critical patients on ventilator support, and 77 on oxygen support, the bulletin said.A total of 44,90,598 samples have been collected so far for testing of coronavirus in the state, it said. (PTI)

Chandigarh reported 32 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the infection count in the Union Territory to 20,957, according to a medical bulletin.No death was reported on Monday and the toll stands at 334, as per the bulletin.There are 176 active cases in the UT now, the bulletin said.A total of 21 patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, taking the number of recoveries to 20,447, the health bulletin added.A total of 2,17,610 samples have been taken for testing so far and of them, 1,95,710 have returned negative while reports of 68 samples were awaited, as per bulletin.

A total of 7,893 people -- around 75 percent of the targeted beneficiaries -- were administered the vaccine against the coronavirus in Delhi on Monday, officials said.Fifteen cases of adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) were reported during the day, they said.Vaccines were administered at 106 centres. Each centre has a target of 100 immunizations against COVID-19 per day, said a senior Delhi government officer."The vaccination percentage was 74.46 per cent. There were 23 sites where 100 or more vaccinations (were) achieved. These included seven centres set up at Delhi government hospitals," he said.Under the nationwide coronavirus vaccination programme, health workers are being administered the vaccines first. The priority group that will receive the vaccine includes health workers, frontline workers, people above 50 years of age and those with co-morbidities.Coronavirus vaccination in Delhi is held four days a week, barring Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. (PTI)

A total of 40,782 healthcare staffers were administered COVID-19 vaccines at 531 centres held on Monday across Maharashtra, taking the tally of those inoculated so far to more than 3 lakh, the state government said.According to an official statement, 40,311 of the beneficiaries were administered Covishield vaccine.The remaining 471 beneficiaries received Covaxin jabs, the government said.Covaxin was inoculated at six places: Amravati, Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur and Aurangabad, it added.In Mumbai suburbs, the authorities had planned to vaccinate 3,580 individuals during the day, but 5,746 healthcare workers (or 161 per cent of the target) were inoculated till evening,the government said.Amravati district in the Vidarbha region reported 104 per cent vaccination.A total of 727 persons received jabs as against the single-day target of 700 individuals in Amravati district, according to the government.The government said 3,09,846 persons have been vaccinated against coronavirus in the state till now.The vaccination drive began in the state on January 16 as part of the nationwide programme to stamp out the infection.

After conducting physical classes for standards 10 and 12 for a month, the Odisha government on Monday said that it has decided to reopen schools for the students of classes 9 and 11 from February 8 amid strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.A notification issued by the school and mass education department said that regular classroom teaching for students of standards 9 and 11 will be held between 8.30 am and 10.30 am six days a week from February 8 to April 30.Three periods will be held in those two hours, the notification said.The government had reopened schools for students of classes 10 and 12 on January 8 after nine months of closure due to COVID-19 pandemic.School and Mass Education Minister S R Dash said that the decision to start classroom teaching for the students of classes 9 and 11 was taken based on the experience of reopening schools for standards 10 and 12 a month ago. (PTI)

The Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA) on Monday criticised the varsity for not giving colleges and teachers "adequate time for preparation" on the first day of limited reopening of colleges.The Delhi University issued a notification on January 29 to the varsity staff and instructed them to "attend to their workplace" from Monday, which the teachers'association termed as "mindless" and demanded its "immediate withdrawal".It had also announced that it will allow final year students for practical classes at all its colleges."Today, teachers turned up at the workplace to find that they had to struggle to find an appropriate space from where they could teach. The internet collapsed in many colleges and teachers were found roaming around with their portable devices or laptops to be able to meet their online classes," DUTA president Rajib Ray alleged in a statement.The Delhi University allowed final year students, who need to use college facilities for their practicals, to return to campuses, while making staff's presence mandatory from Monday.The DUTA claimed that it had pointed it out to the vice-chancellor that the order "was bound to create chaos and confusion"."No proper mechanism had been put in place to ensure no disruption to the teaching learning process before issuance of the order. It was clear that all teaching had to be conducted in the digital mode, hence, expecting teachers to be at home to take classes and in the college to mark their attendance was ridiculous," it alleged."The DUTA takes strong exception to this mindless order and demands its immediate withdrawal so that precious teaching time is not wasted and classes remain unmet," the DUTA added. (PTI)

Cinema halls/theatres/multiplexes can allow audience up to 100% seating capacity in West Bengal.

The number of COVID-19 cases in Goa went up to 53,469 after 60 cases were detected on Monday, while the death toll rose by one and the number of people discharged by 86, an official said.The overall toll is 768 while the recovery count stands at 51,977, leaving Goa with 724 active cases, he added.With 1,363 samples being examined on Monday, the overall number of tests in Goa went up to 4,52,039, said the official.Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 53,469, new cases 60, death toll 768, discharged 51,977, active cases 724, samples tested till date 4,52,039. (PTI)

The coronavirus mutation first detected in Britain caused half of all new infections in the Netherlands by Jan. 26, Dutch health minister Hugo de Jonge said on Monday. Last week, health authorities said the new, more contagious variant was responsible for around a third of all new infections in the Netherlands. The 'British mutation' was seen to be almost 50% more contagious than the older variant, based on calculations up until Jan. 14, De Jonge wrote in a letter to parliament. The Dutch government has repeatedly warned that new mutations could lead to a new wave of infections in the coming weeks, despite a steady drop in the number of COVID-19 cases since the start of the year. To stop the spread of new mutations, a nighttime curfew was added to an already broad lockdown last week. But in a first step towards easing measures, the government on Sunday decided to reopen primary schools as of next week, as young children were still seen to be playing only a marginal role in the transmission of the disease. Dutch media on Monday reported that the government was also considering scrapping the curfew early next week. On Monday, the number of new coronavirus infections in the Netherlands dropped to its lowest level in 4 months, at 3,280. Since the start of the pandemic almost 1 million coronavirus infections in the Netherlands have been reported, with over 14,000 deaths.