Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Odisha Relaxes Covid Curbs; Malls, Restaurants To Reopen With 50% Capacity
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS, Sunday, August 1: For the fifth consecutive day, Kerala recorded more than 20,000 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday but saw a decline in fatalities.
Background
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS, Sunday, August 1: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that he will take a call on imposing nightlife curbs, weekend curfews after watching how the situation unfolds in...More
Asserting its commitment to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country, the Centre on Sunday said that over 49.49 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and Union Territories so far and a further 8,04,220 are in the pipeline.
"Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 46,70,26,662 doses (as per the data available at 8 a.m. on Sunday)," an official statement said. It said that over 3 crore (3,00,58,190) unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories and private hospitals to be administered.
"The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain," it said. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday said that over 13 crore vaccines have been administered in July and the vaccination drive will get more accelerated from August. "We must feel proud of our health workers for this feat," he said.
As earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi questioned the shortage of vaccines supply to the states, Mandaviya urged him to feel proud at the efforts of health workers who have administered over 47 crore vaccinations so far.
The national capital Sunday reported 85 coronavirus cases and one death, while the positivity rate stood at 0.12 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.
With the new cases, the overall infection tally in the city climbs to 14,36,350. Of this, over 14.10 lakh patients have recovered from the disease.
The death toll now stands at 25,054. On Saturday, the city had reported 58 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent and one death due to the infection. On Friday, the capital logged 63 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.09 percent and three deaths. On Thursday, it registered 51 cases of COVID-19 with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent and zero deaths.
With an improvement in the Covid-19 situation, the Odisha government on Saturday announced reopening of shopping malls, parks and cinema halls among several relaxations in all the districts, barring three cities where coronavirus caseload is relatively high.
The administration granted the relaxations for a month starting from 6 am on Sunday, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said, adding that the existing 10-hour night curfew from 8 pm will be in place in all the districts. “The new guidelines will be enforced for a month till 6 am on September 1," he said.
All weekly and monthly markets, shopping malls and parks are allowed to reopen across the state from Sunday but the restrictions on social and political gatherings are not withdrawn.
Offices, both government and private, are also permitted to function with half the manpower, the SRC said. The state government asked the district administrations to decide on the reopening of religious places, except Shree Jagannath temple in Puri and Shree Lingaraj temple in Bhubaneswar, he said.
Malls, restaurants, roadside eateries, bars, theatres and cinema halls are also allowed to operate with 50 per cent seating capacity and strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
Andhra Pradesh reports 2,287 fresh Covid cases, 2,430 recoveries, and 18 deaths in the past 24 hours. Active cases: 21,019 Total recoveries: 19,34,048 Death toll: 13,395
"More than 13 crore vaccines have been administered in the country in July. The number is going to accelerate this month," tweets Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
The July 31 deadline to complete administering the first COVID-19 vaccine dose to all eligible beneficiaries in Goa has been missed as only 87 per cent of the target has been met, a senior official said on Sunday.
The July 31 deadline was set by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant with the aim of getting the state prepared to tackle a possible third wave of the infection.
"Now, 87 per cent of the eligible population of Goa has been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Currently, 23 per cent of beneficiaries have got both doses," State Vaccination Officer Dr Rajendra Borkar told reporters.
Independent MLA Rohan Khaunte attacked the Sawant government for missing the deadline and said the BJP was more interested in "trampling democracy" than fighting the pandemic.
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday ordered a mandatory RT-PCR test report for people coming from Kerala from August 5, news agency PTI reported citing state's health minister Ma Subramanian.
The notice from Tamil Nadu comes a day after the Karnataka government announced a special surveillance measure, making a negative RT-PCR certificate for people arriving in the state from Kerala and Maharashtra mandatory in the view of Covid-19 situation.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 47 crore with 60,15,842 doses being given in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.
More than three crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories and private hospitals to be administered.
About 49,49,89,550 vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far, through all sources and a further 8,04,220 doses are in the pipeline.
Of this, the total consumption, including wastage is 46,70,26,662 doses (according to data available at 8 am Sunday).
Cumulatively, 47,02,98,596 vaccine doses have been administered through 55,71,565 sessions, according to the provisional report till 8 am.
Cumulatively, 15,61,40,811 persons in the age group 18-44 years across all states and UTs have received their first dose and 86,68,370 have received their second dose since the start of the third phase of the vaccination drive.
In total, 10,63,39,854 persons in the age group of 45-59 years have taken the first dose and 3,91,28,126 have received their second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive.
Pakistan reported 5,026 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, its highest daily-case count in three months.
In an official update, the Ministry of National Health Services said 62 people died due to the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the COVID-19 death toll to 23,422.
The total number of cases stood at 1,034,837. The last time when the number of daily cases crossed 5,000 was on April 29 with 5,113 cases. Presently, the coronavirus positivity rate stands at 8.82 per cent.
So far, 941,659 people have fully recovered from the disease.
Authorities said vaccination, implementation of regulations and smart lockdowns are the priority to handle the fourth wave of the pandemic.
Till date, 29.648 million doses of the coronavirus have been administered in the country.
India saw a single-day rise of 41,831 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 3,16,55,824, while the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 47 crore, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll climbed to 4,24,351 with 541 daily fatalities.
Registering an increase for the fifth consecutive cases, the active cases have climbed to 4,10,952 and comprises 1.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.36 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
An increase of 2,032 Covid cases has been recorded in the total number COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
Also, 17,89,472 tests were conducted on Saturday, taking the cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 46,82,16,510, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.34 per cent .
China and Australia ramped up Covid-19 curbs Saturday as Delta variant cases surged and tens of thousands rallied in France against restrictions designed to stop the pandemic.
The Delta variant, which was first identified in India, is forcing governments to reimpose tough measures, while other nations are reconsidering plans to open their economies.
The variant has spread to 132 countries and territories. The pandemic has killed more than four million people and shows no sign of slowing.
"Delta is a warning: it's a warning that the virus is evolving but it is also a call to action that we need to move now before more dangerous variants emerge," the World Health Organization's emergencies director Michael Ryan told journalists.
China's outbreak now spans 14 provinces, the most widespread in several months, challenging the country's early success in tackling the disease after it was first detected in the city of Wuhan in late 2019.
China has put more than one million people under lockdown and reinstituted mass testing campaigns.
Thane has reported 350 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,44,766, an official said on Sunday.
Besides these new cases recorded on Saturday, eight more people also succumbed to the viral infection, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,035.
The COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.02 per cent, he added.
With an improvement in the COVID-19 situation, the Odisha government on Saturday announced the reopening of shopping malls, parks, and cinema halls among several relaxations in all the districts, barring three cities where coronavirus caseload is relatively high. The administration granted the relaxations for a month starting from 6 am on Sunday, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena said, adding that the existing 10-hour night curfew from 8 pm will be in place in all the districts.
Karnataka intensified testing at inter-state borders with Kerala and Maharashtra to prevent surge in Covid cases in the state, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday.
"Testing at inter-state border check-posts has been intensified and a negative RT-PCR test report or a certificate on taking two doses of vaccine has been made mandatory for all entering the state from Kerala or Maharashtra," Bommai told reporters here.
Soon after returning to the city from a 2-day visit to New Delhi, the chief minister held a video conference with deputy commissioners of Chamarajanagar, Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Udupi and reviewed measures taken to contain the virus spread.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai stated that he will take a call on imposing nightlife curbs, week-end curfews after watching how the situation unfolds in 15 days in the state on Saturday after chairing the meeting in connection with emerging Covid situation in the bordering districts of state.
"We will watch the developments and verify on imposing restrictions. Until then, there will be strict implementation of rules," he underlined. The present rule of allowing 50 per cent of customers to bars and pubs will continue for a fortnight, he added.
"We are anxious after seeing spurt in Covid cases in neighbouring states of Kerala and Maharashtra. This development is posing danger to the state. All entry points from these states will be strictly monitored. There is an increase in the positivity rate in few districts of the state and this must be checked," Bommai stated.
Amid surge in Covid cases, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday asked people to avoid crowds and if possible, even events, celebrations during Onam festival. She also urged people not to visit relatives to reduce the risk of Covid infection.
Kerala has been reporting more than 20,000 fresh Covid infections for the last few days, highest by any state in the country. Fearing the further surge, the health minister said that people should strictly avoid crowds and follow Covid protocols while organising and attending events and celebrations during Onam.