Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS: Maharashtra Report 13,659 New Covid Cases, Lowest Since March 10; Mumbai's Count At 866
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS, Saturday, June 5, 2021: A lancet study suggests that to fight the Delta Variant, which is dominant in India, vaccine gap of 4-6 weeks is appropriate.The recommendation is at odds with India's recent decision to increase the gap between two Covishield doses to 12 to 16 weeks from six-eight weeks. China has wholly rejected the "lab leak" theory, and has instead accused the US and others of peddling conspiracies and politicising the pandemic to divert attention.
Both daily new cases and Covid related fatalities recorded a decline in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, with the Union Territory reporting 1,448 fresh cases and 25 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Of the 1,448 cases reported on Saturday, 453 were from Jammu division and 995 from Kashmir division, while 2,615 patients were discharged from different hospitals after recovery during the same period, officials said.
Punjab reported 1,907 Covid-19 cases, 3,619 patient discharges, and 79 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Active cases: 2,44,54
Total discharges: 5,38,534
Death toll: 15,009
The expert committee formed by the Mamata Banerjee government to assess the possibility of conducting the board exams, is likely to give their opinion against any kind of exam during the pandemic situation.
The six-member committee that has already submitted the report to state Education Secretary Manish Jain has opined strongly against taking the examination of 12 lakh Madhyamik (Class 10) students but suggested that the government may evaluate the 7.5 lakh Higher Secondary students through assessment, assignments and examinations from home.
Delhi government was all set to launch the 'Doorstep Delivery of Ration' scheme across Delhi within 1-2 days. The LG has rejected the file for implementation of the scheme citing two reasons – Centre is yet to approve the scheme, and an ongoing court case: Chief Minister's Office
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday extended the relaxations in the coronavirus curfew to Bareilly and Bulandshahr districts from Monday, allowing shops and markets outside the containment zones to open for five days a week.
Relaxations will come into effect from June 7, and will remain in force for five days (Monday to Friday) from 7 am to 7 pm. However, the night curfew and weekend curfew will continue.
Indian Medical Association Uttarakhand retaliates against the proposal of Patanjali to include Coronil tablet in COVID-19 kit in the State saying Coronil is not approved by WHO, nor is it included in central guidelines; it's not a drug or medicine as claimed by Baba Ramdev
Maintaining its upward trend, discharge of 22,316 patients in a day led to recoveries remain more than 16,068 new Covid cases in Karnataka, said the state health bulletin on Friday.
"With 22,316 patients discharged during the day, 23,58,412 recovered so far, while 16,068 positive cases on Thursday increased the state's Covid tally to 26,69,514, including 2,80,186 active cases.
As epi-centre of the pandemic in the state, Bengaluru reported 3,221 fresh cases, taking its Covid tally to 11,77,496, including 1,31,179 active cases, while recoveries rose to 10,31,834, with 6,220 discharged during the day.
The infection, however, claimed 364 lives, including 206 in Bengaluru, taking the state's death toll to 30,895 and the city's toll to 14,482 since the pandemic broke out in mid-March a year ago.
Out of 1,50,610 tests conducted across the state during the day, 39,608 were through rapid antigen detection and 1,11,002 through RT-PCR method.
The Chief Whip in Himachal Pradesh Assembly and senior BJP MLA Narinder Bragta died at a hospital in Chandigarh, this morning. He had recently recovered from Covid-19 and was undergoing treatment for post covid complications: (His son) Chetan Singh Bragta confirmed on Facebook
The Jharkhand government on Friday approved a number of proposals including one month's extra pay to Covid health workers and enhancement in honorarium for mid-day meal assistants.
The decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Sorent.
The Jharkhand government last month announced Rs 103 crore incentive for frontline health workers.
"The Cabinet has approved incentives for health department workers including doctors engaged in coronavirus related contact tracing, testing, supervision etc work in COVID hospitals and wards besides control rooms, which will be equivalent to their one month's salary," an official statement after the Cabinet meeting said.
The incentive will be equivalent to the basic salary of April, 2020.
Top American lawmakers on Friday applauded the Biden Administration for its decision to distribute 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to India and other countries.
I applaud the Biden Administration's commitment to getting COVID-19 vaccines to countries that need them most, Senator John Cornyn, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus said.
As Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, I believe this is an excellent opportunity to help India respond to their current, dangerous surge, Cornyn said in a tweet.
In a tweet, Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith said as India fights its COVID-19 crisis, it's important to continue to share extra US vaccines to help its friend and important ally.
The Pfizer vaccine is far less effective against the Delta variant of Covid, which is dominant in India, compared to the original strain of the coronavirus, says The Lancet journal in a new study. The antibody response to variants is even lower in people who have received just one dose and a longer gap between doses may significantly reduce antibodies against the Delta variant, the study says.
After a single dose of Pfizer, 79 per cent of people had quantifiable neutralising antibody response against the original strain, but this fell to 50 per cent for B.1.1.7 or Alpha variant, 32 per cent for Delta and 25 per cent for the B.1.351 or Beta variant first discovered in South Africa.
China has wholly rejected the "lab leak" theory, and has instead accused the US and others of peddling conspiracies and politicising the pandemic to divert attention.
And yet, the country has been found making an extraordinary effort to block attempts to unravel the origins of COVID-19, especially inquiries that stray from its official stand. This has prompted many to ask what and why is China trying to cover up if it has nothing to hide. The genesis of the lab leak theory lies in reports that six miners fell ill in 2012 and three researchers from the Wuhan Institute of Virology became sick in 2019 after visiting a bat cave in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan.
Background
Coronavirus HIGHLIGHTS, Saturday, June 5, 2021: The Pfizer vaccine is far less effective against the Delta variant of Covid, which is dominant in India, compared to the original strain of the coronavirus, says The Lancet journal in a new study. The antibody response to variants is even lower in people who have received just one dose and a longer gap between doses may significantly reduce antibodies against the Delta variant, the study says.
The Jharkhand government on Friday approved a number of proposals including one month's extra pay to Covid health workers and enhancement in honorarium for mid-day meal assistants.
The decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
The Jharkhand government last month announced Rs 103 crore incentive for frontline health workers.
"The Cabinet has approved incentives for health department workers including doctors engaged in coronavirus related contact tracing, testing, supervision etc work in COVID hospitals and wards besides control rooms, which will be equivalent to their one month's salary," an official statement after the Cabinet meeting said.
The incentive will be equivalent to the basic salary of April, 2020.
Maharashtra has decided to relax lockdown restriction on the basis of Covid positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds in Maharashtra. In a late night order, the state government said it will implement the new five-level eased curbs from Monday. This comes a day after Uddhav Thackeray’s office took a U-turn on unlock plan announced by earlier by minister Vijay Wadettiwar.
- - - - - - - - - Advertisement - - - - - - - - -