Coronavirus Highlights: ICMR Issues Advisory For COVID Home Testing Using Rapid Antigen Tests

Coronavirus Highlights, May 19: As India reported 2.63 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the central government has claimed a clear positive trend in COVID-19 recoveries in India. The Union Health Ministry informed that 1.8 per cent of the total population of India has been affected by the disease so far and the case positivity rate currently stands at 14.10 per cent in the country. In a major development, Drugs Controller General of India has approved COVAXIN for phase II/III clinical trials in the age group of 2 to 18 years. The government said that the clinical trails would begin in the next 10-12 days.

Background

Coronavirus Highlights, May 19: As India reported 2.63 lakh new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the central government has claimed a clear positive trend in COVID-19 recoveries in India. The Union Health Ministry informed that 1.8 per cent of the total population of India has been affected by the disease so far and the case positivity rate currently stands at 14.10 per cent in the country.In a major development, Drugs Controller General of India has approved COVAXIN for phase II/III clinical trials in the age group of 2 to 18 years. The government said that the clinical trails would begin in the next 10-12 days.Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced an ex gratia of Rs 50,000 to those families affected by deaths due to Covid-19. The Delho govt has also announced to give five kg ration to the 72 lakh people in the national capital having ration cards. It will also provide Rs 2,500 every month for children, who have lost at least one of their parents, due to Covid, till the age of 25.

19/05/2021 23:43:33

Jharkhand Records 4528 Recoveries

Jharkhand reported 1894 new Coronavirus cases, 4528 recoveries and 53 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases has increased to 3,20,934 in the state.

19/05/2021 23:20:33

No Repeat Testing Required For People Who Test Positive: ICMR's Advisory

Individuals who test positive may be considered as true positives & no repeat testing is required, states ICMR advisory for COVID-19 home testing. All symptomatic individuals who test negative must get tested by RTPCR as RATs are likely to miss few positive cases with low viral load.

19/05/2021 22:32:08

Chhattisgarh Records 5680 New Cases

Chhattisgarh reported 5680 new Coronavirus cases, 1366 recoveries and 146 fatalities in the last 24 hours. The active cases in the state has crossed the 85k mark.

19/05/2021 21:33:54

COVID Crisis Continues In J&K

The Coronavirus crisis refused to relent in Jammu and Kashmir as 62 deaths and 3,969 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours. There were 39 deaths in the Jammu division while 23 people died in the Kashmir division. 

19/05/2021 21:14:54

Mumbai Witnesses Rise In Number Of New COVID Cases

Maharashtra's capital Mumbai recorded 1350 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The Maximum City reported 4565 recoveries and 57 deaths on Tuesday. 

19/05/2021 21:14:26

Mumbai Witnesses Rise In Number Of New COVID Cases

Maharashtra's capital Mumbai recorded 1350 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The Maximum City reported 4565 recoveries and 57 deaths on Tuesday. 

19/05/2021 20:50:29

West Bengal Records 19,006 COVID19 Cases

West Bengal reported 19,151 recoveries and 157 deaths in the last 24 hours. The state recorded 19,006 new COVID19 cases, taking the total tally to 11,90,867. The number of active cases  stands at 1,31,491. 

19/05/2021 20:37:29

Maharashtra: 594 Succumb To COVID=19

Maharashtra reported 34,031 new COVID19 cases and 51,457 recoveries in the last 24 hours. 594 people have lost their lives due to the virus on Tuesday, according to the state's medical bulletin. The death toll has reached 84,371 while the total number of active cases is 4,01,695

19/05/2021 19:50:26

Goa: 2160 Recoveries In Last 24 Hours

Goa reported 1,209 new cases, 31 deaths in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases stands at 22,964

19/05/2021 19:12:45

Dr. Harsh Vardhan Chairs Meeting With Bengal & Other States' Health Ministers

Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan held a meeting via video conferencing with health ministers and principal secretaries/additional chief secretaries of West Bengal and North-East states, regarding the COVID-19 situation in these states.

19/05/2021 17:53:52

Vaccination To Be Deferred By 3 Months For Those Who Recover From Covid, Says Govt

New Recommendations of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID19 (NEGVAC) have been accepted & communicated to States/UTs. As per new recommendations, COVID19 vaccination to be deferred by 3 months after recovery from illness: Union Health Ministry

If infected after first dose, second dose to be deferred by 3 months after clinical recovery from COVID19. Persons with any other serious illness requiring hospitalization or ICU care to also wait for 4-8 weeks before getting the vaccine: Union Health Ministry

19/05/2021 17:33:03

Singapore High Commissioner to India on Kejriwal's remarks

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's remarks would not impact our (India-Singapore) hand-in-hand fight against Covid. As witnessed yesterday & today with transportation of medical aid, we're working together. Pandemic knows no boundary or political colour: Simon Wong, Singapore High Commissioner to India, was quoted as saying by ANI. 

19/05/2021 17:27:51

Puducherry records 1,759 new cases

Puducherry reported 1,759 new cases, 29 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of active cases stands at 17,652. 

19/05/2021 16:38:45

Vaccination To Be Deferred By 3 Months For Those Who Recover From Covid, Says Govt

New Recommendations of National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID19 (NEGVAC) have been accepted & communicated to States/UTs. As per new recommendations, COVID19 vaccination to be deferred by 3 months after recovery from illness: Union Health Ministry

If infected after first dose, second dose to be deferred by 3 months after clinical recovery from COVID19. Persons with any other serious illness requiring hospitalization or ICU care to also wait for 4-8 weeks before getting the vaccine: Union Health Ministry

19/05/2021 15:01:31

Karnataka orders 2 cr vaccine doses from SII, 1 crore with Bharat Biotech

We've placed orders for 2 cr vaccine doses with SII and 1 crore with Bharat Biotech. They have started supplying, around 10 lakh vaccines have been supplied by the SII, around 1.5 lakh doses supplied by Bharat Biotech. We're requesting them to scale up the supply: Karnataka Dy CM

19/05/2021 12:34:26

BJP MLA Gautam Lal Meena passes away

Rajasthan: BJP MLA from Dhariawad constituency, Gautam Lal Meena passes away at a hospital where he was undergoing treatment for Covid-19. 

19/05/2021 10:12:40

Palghar (Maharashtra): Covid-19 vaccination suspended for today due to electricity failure

Due to electricity failure and network issues today there will be no Covid-19 vaccination in the entire district: Palghar District Collector

19/05/2021 09:16:04

20,08,296 samples for Covid-19 tested in last 24 hours

32,03,01,177 samples tested for Covid-19 up to 18th May 2021. Of these, 20,08,296 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research

19/05/2021 08:49:29

Johnson and Johnson joins hand with Telangana-based Biological E to manufacture 'Janssen' Covid-19 vaccine

US bases pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson joins hands with Telangana-based Biological E Limited to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine named 'Janssen'. 

In an official statement, Johnson and Johnson said, "Johnson & Johnson is working with Biological E. Limited on the manufacturing of the Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. We believe Biological E. will be an important part of our global COVID-19 vaccine supply network, where multiple manufacturing sites are involved in the production of our vaccine across different facilities, sometimes in different countries and continents, before the vaccine can be distributed." 

19/05/2021 08:36:13

SII CEO Adar Poonawalla defends decision to export Covishield vaccines

Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla has defended the decision to export teh Covid-19 vaccines to other countries. In a statement on Tuesday, Poonawalla said that his company never exported the Covishield vaccine doses at the cost of people in India. He reportedly said that his company had a large stockile of vaccine doses in January. At the same time, India was witnessing lower cases of Covid-19 while some other nations were in dire need of vaccines in order to curb the Covid peak. He said that, "we will not be safe till everyone globally is able to defeat this virus at a global scale". 

He further pointed out that India is amongst the two most populous countries in the world and a vaccination drive for such a large population cannot be completed within 2-3 months. he said that it would take 2-3 years for the entire world population to get fully vaccinated.

19/05/2021 08:20:29

Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Assam May See COVID Peak In Next 2 Weeks

The SUTRA model that charts the trajectory of COVID-19 suggests that states like Tamil Nadu, Assam and Punjab may see the peak of second wave of coronavirus cases in the next two weeks. The model further suggests that Delhi and states like Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh have well passed their peak. It also says that Tamil Nadu may see a peak by May 29-31 while Puducherry may witness a peak on May 19-20. (PTI Inputs)