Coronavirus Live: '40 Crore Indians Still Vulnerable To Covid Infection', Says Govt
Coronavirus LIVE Tuesday, July 20: Officials of the WHO had a meeting with the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech and its dossier for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin is under review
Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday informed that one more case of Zika virus has been confirmed in Kerala, taking the total number of cases in the state to 38. Out of this, eight patients are undergoing treatment
Kerala reports 16,848 new COVID cases, 12,052 recoveries, and 104 deaths today
Active cases: 1,26,398
Total recoveries: 30,45,310
Death toll: 15,512
Andhra Pradesh reports 2,498 fresh Covid-19 cases, 2,201 recoveries, and 24 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Active cases: 23,843
Total recoveries: 19,07,201
Death toll: 13,178
Around 40 crore people are still vulnerable to COVID-19 infection as a nationwide survey found two-thirds of the country's population aged above six to have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, the government said on Tuesday as it stressed there is no room for complacency in the fight against the pandemic.
Findings of the ICMR's 4th national Covid sero survey show there is a ray of hope, but there is no room for complacency and Covid-appropriate behaviour has to be followed, the government said.
Addressing a press conference, a senior official said two-thirds or 67.6 per cent of India's population aged above 6 years were found to have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the latest national sero survey. A third of the population did not have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which means about 40 crore people are still vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, the official said.
According to the government, 85 per cent of the surveyed healthcare workers had antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and one-tenth of HCWs were still unvaccinated. The survey covered 28,975 general population and 7,252 healthcare workers. The fourth round of the survey was conducted in the 70 districts across 21 states where the previous three rounds had been carried out.
Supreme Court pulls up Kerala government for relaxing COVID19 restriction for the celebration of Bakrid in the state. Supreme Court says it is a shocking state of affairs that the Kerala government has given in to the demand of traders in relaxing lockdown norms.
Supreme Court says if there is any spread of the COVID19 infection due to the lockdown relaxations by the Kerala government owing to Bakrid, any person can bring it to the notice of the court which will then take appropriate action.
Pressurehood of any manner cannot infringe upon the most precious right of Right to Life for citizens of India, if any untoward incident takes place then any public can bring it to our notice & action will be taken accordingly, says Supreme Court "We direct Kerala to give heed to Article 21 read with Article 144 of the constitution of India and follow our orders given in the Kanwar yatra case", says SC
Canada has extended the ban on passenger flights from India by another month. The ban was set to expire on July 21, but will now remain in place until August 21. It is the fourth time the ban has been extended since it was first imposed on April 22. The suspension was extended by another 30 days on 21 June and now another extension will be imposed for 30 days.
Kerala government in response to a plea challenging relaxation of Covid lockdown norms in the state for Bakra Eid festivities told SC that the norms were eased to address the distressing condition of the traders, who had stocked up for eid.
“With the economic slowdown haunting the traders, not allowing them to sell their stock during the festival would have dealt a crippling blow to their finances,” it said justifying the three-day relaxation of lockdown norms, which ends on Tuesday. The state added that only limited relaxations have been given, while all Covid-19 protocols are being followed in the markets.
A stampede-like situation was witnessed at a vaccination centre in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district
The United States has improved the travel advisory for India, lowering it from the highest Level 4, which means no travel, to Level 3, which urges citizens to reconsider travel.
It also eased travel recommendations on Pakistan from Level 4 to Level 3.
The improvement of the travel advisories for India and Pakistan by the State Department on Monday comes in an acknowledgement of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the region.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for India due to COVID-19, indicating a high level of COVID-19 in the country, the State Department said on Monday.
"Your risk of contracting COVID-19 and developing severe symptoms may be lower if you are fully vaccinated with an FDA authorised vaccine. Before planning any international travel, please review the CDC's specific recommendations for vaccinated and unvaccinated travellers," it said.
"Reconsider travel to India due to COVID-19. Exercise increased caution due to crime and terrorism," it said.
The latest travel advisory replaces the one issued on May 5 that had placed India in the Level 4 category.
When the last month's advisory was issued, India was struggling with a second wave of the pandemic with more than 3,00,000 daily new coronavirus cases being reported. Hospitals were reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.
While the CDC issued a Level 2 Travel Health Notice for Pakistan due to COVID-19, indicating a moderate level of the pandemic, the State Department maintained Level 3 risk for US citizens travelling to the country due to terrorism.
"Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism and sectarian violence. Exercise increased caution in Pakistan due to COVID-19. Some areas have increased risk. Read the entire Travel Advisory," the State Department said.
All passengers flying to West Bengal, on both commercial and non-commercial flights, will have to produce either a certificate that shows they are fully vaccinated or a COVID-19 negative (RT-PCR) test report, the state government wrote to the civil aviation ministry on Monday. The decision will be implemented with immediate effect, West Bengal Home Secretary BP Gopalika wrote to Civil Aviation secretary PS Kharola. Passengers need to produce proof of their full vaccination or a COVID-19 negative test report at the time of boarding.
India has been offered 7.5 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX global vaccine sharing programme, but it is not clear when the jabs will arrive in the country as a consensus on the indemnity clause is yet to be reached, sources said. The government last week said that it is working actively with vaccine manufacturer Moderna to see how its vaccine can be made available in the country. Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine was granted emergency use authorisation by India's drug regulator last month. "India has been offered 7.5 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX global vaccine sharing programme," a source said.
Officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO) had a meeting with the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech and its dossier for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin is under review by technical experts for consideration, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia said on Monday.
Dr Singh said that India has been offered 7.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine through WHO's COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program.
The WHO Regional Director said: "Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Sinovac and Sinopharm have been granted EUL by the WHO. For COVXIN, an expression of interest for EUL has been made to WHO by Bharat Biotech. WHO has already conducted a pre-submission meeting with the company following which a dossier has been submitted by Bharat Biotech to WHO in early July. The dossier is currently under review by the technical experts for consideration of EUL."
Background
Coronavirus LIVE Tuesday, July 20: Though the Jharkhand government is yet to take a final call on organising the Shravani Mela in Deoghar, sources have indicated that this year also the annual festival will not be organised in the famous Baba Baidyanath Mandir in Deoghar owing to the COvid-19 pandemic.
It is expected that this time the temple will not be opened for the common devotees in the month of Shravan. Preparations are being made by the district administration to close the roads leading to the temple for the common devotees, who will also be prevented from coming in the month of Shravan through the Kanwaria route.
"Dumma, the entrance gate of Jharkhand, will also be sealed and there will be the deployment of magistrate and police force. The police will stop and send back the Kanwariyas coming through Bihar," a source in the Deoghar administration.
For the first time since the pandemics second wave began in April, Covid positivity rate in Karnataka dipped below 1 per cent in a day, while case fatality rate was above 3 per cent, said the state health bulletin on Monday.
"Positivity rate declined to 0.94 per cent on Sunday from 1.09 per cent on Saturday, while case fatality rate rose to 3.09 per cent from 2.10 per cent during the weekend," said the bulletin.
Positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for being infected by Coronavirus.
Out of 1,35,974 tests conducted across the state during the day, 17,839 were through rapid-antigen detection and 1,18,135 through RT-PCR method.
Meanwhile, 1,291 new cases were registered on Sunday, taking the state's Covid tally to 28,85,238, including 27,527 active cases, while recoveries increased to 28,21,491, with 3,015 patients discharged during the day.
As epi-centre of the pandemic in the state, Bengaluru reported 266 fresh cases on Sunday, taking its Covid tally to 12,22,455, including 10,809 active cases, while recoveries rose to 11,95,843, with 1,202 patients discharged in the last 24 hours.
(With IANS inputs)
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