Coronavirus news highlights: Stricter Covid curbs in Tamil Nadu from May 15

India reported 3.4 lakh new Covid-19 cases and 4,000 deaths on Friday. The country's cumulative recoveries have surpassed 2 crore (2,00,79,599) with 3,44,776 patients recuperating in a day. Meanwhile, on the vaccine front, India administered the first jab of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in Hyderabad. Stay tuned for more updates.

More curbs, including 2-hour cut in duration for functioning of vegetable & provision stores, will be implemented from May 15 across Tamil Nadu: CM M K Stalin

Bhagat Singh’s nephew Abhay Sandhu died of post-Covid health-related complications. He had been undergoing treatment at Fortis Hospital in Mohali for the past several days: Punjab government

(ANI)

Karnataka reports 41,779 new Covid-19 cases, 373 deaths

Karnataka reported 41,779 new cases of Covid-19 and 373 more deaths, taking the total number of infections to 21,30,267 and the toll to 21,085, the Health Department said on Friday.

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Wait 12 weeks for second dose if you have taken Covishield in Karnataka

The Karnataka government on Friday asked those who took the Covishield vaccine not to come to vaccination centres if they have not completed 12 weeks of the first dose, citing advisory of expert groups.

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West Bengal registers 20,846 fresh Covid-19 cases, highest so far in single day, 136 more fatalities: Health Dept

(PTI)

Hovering at 37 lakh, active Covid-19 cases plateau across India

Active Covid-19 cases across the country have been hovering around the 37 lakh mark for the past one week, an early indication of plateauing of the second wave.

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Maharashtra reports 39,923 new Covid-19 cases, 53,249 discharges and 695 deaths in the last 24 hours.

There will be no vaccination on May 15 and May 16: Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai

(ANI)

Total lockdown imposed in Aizawl, other district headquarters of Mizoram extended till May 24

(PTI)

Kerala reports 34,694 new Covid-19 cases, 93 deaths in last 24 hours

Goa reports 2,455 new Covid-19 cases, 2,960 recoveries and 61 deaths in the last 24 hours.

(ANI)

Covid-19 lockdown in Kerala extended till May 23

Covid-19 lockdown in Kerala has been extended till May 23, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Friday.

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Soft launched Sputnik V in Hyderabad today to start testing of cold chain logistics with 2-dose regime. Next consignments are expected in coming weeks. It will be available for customers in India by mid-June after stock ramp-up: Dr Reddy's Labs

(ANI)

Andhra Pradesh reports 22,018 new Covid-19 cases, 19,177 recoveries, and 96 deaths in last 24 hours

ANI

Uttar Pradesh records 15,747 new coronavirus cases, 312 deaths

4 cases of mucormycosis, a fungal infection now affecting coronavirus patients, have been reported in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh in last 2 days: Health official

(PTI)

Big promises, few doses: Why Russia is struggling to make Sputnik V doses

Transforming the site of what once was a Soviet-era car factory into a state-of-the-art facility churning out Russia's Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V was the easy bit.

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Telangana High Court stays the state government's order to allow ambulances with patients coming from neighbouring states only if they have prior tie-up with hospitals.

(ANI)

13 more Covid-19 patients die at top Goa hospital; toll reaches 75 in four days

Thirteen more Covid-19 patients died at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the early hours of Friday, a senior health department official said, taking the number of people who have succumbed at the government-run facility in the last four days to 75.

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Shallow graves and bodies in the river: Covid-19 hits India's villages

Coronavirus is raging in India's hinterland, where in some places bodies are being buried in shallow graves or given up to rivers and the sick have little hope other than herbal remedies and amateur doctors.

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OPINION | PM Modi's duty to tell the real risk of B.1.617 Covid-19 variant to the world

If you haven’t heard of B.1.617 yet, chances are you soon will.

This particular Covid-19 variant is at least partly behind the overwhelming second wave in India, the current global epicentre of the pandemic.

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India’s step to extend gap between 1st, 2nd vaccine dose reasonable: Anthony Fauci

A beneficiary receives Covid-19 vaccine dose at a vaccination centre in Guwahati, Friday, May 14, 2021. Credit: PTI Photo

Central government will supply nearly 1 crore 92 lakh of Covid-19 vaccines to States/UTs, free of cost, during the fortnight of May 16-31: Union Minister Prakash Javadekar

Karnataka to float global tenders to procure Covid-19 vaccines soon, says CM BSY

At 8,500, Delhi sees lowest single-day Covid-19 cases in over a month

Delhi reported 8,500 cases in the past 24 hours, its lowest since April 11, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday. He also said that the positivity rate in the national capital has declined to 12%.

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Madhya Pradesh to bear cost of Covid treatment of journalists

The state government will bear the cost of Covid-19 treatment of journalists of print, electronic & digital media. We will also bear the cost of their family members' Covid-19 treatment: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan

(ANI)

Goa Forward Party has filed a complaint against CM Pramod Sawant, 2 others for oxygen allocation to hospitals that interrupted oxygen supply and led to the deaths of Covid patients in Goa Medical College

We will bear cost of education and other expenses of those children who were orphaned by Covid-19 pandemic: Delhi CM Kejriwal

ICU beds are still occupied, which means number of serious Covid-19 patients has not reduced: Delhi CM Kejriwal

1,200 ICU beds are ready, will be operational either by today or tomorrow, Kejriwal added

Delhi High Court adjourns the matter related to businessman Navneet Kalra's anticipatory bail, in connection with a case relating to the hoarding of oxygen concentrators in a restaurant in South Delhi, for May 18

Around 8,500 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in Delhi and the positivity rate has come down to 12% in the last 24 hours: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V to cost Rs. 995 in India, first jab administered in Hyderabad

Can only procure Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik through global tender: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain

Covaxin stock has almost ended. We only have 2-3 days of stock for Covidshield vaccines for 18- 44 years of age group. We can't mix already assigned centers for Covaxin & Covishield vaccines: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain

Based on Covid-19 vaccines availability, we allocate 40,000 doses per day to 198 wards i.e. 200 doses per ward. Priority is being given to people aged 45 years and above for 2nd jab: Gaurav Gupta, BBMP Chief Commissioner

Four IAF aircraft carrying oxygen cylinders from Singapore arrive in Chennai

Covid-19: India basking in global aid?

There is a strange, even a bizarre, sense of self-satisfaction, if not self-congratulation, among officials and policy wonks about the international aid from more than 40 countries, including China, flowing into India in the wake of Covid-19’s second wave. Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla, at a press conference on April 29, listed the countries from where medical and oxygen equipment was flowing into India, which includes Uzbekistan, Guyana, Egypt, Bangladesh, apart from the United States, Russia, South Africa, and others. What could have been a moment of embarrassment is turned into one of satisfaction and triumph, an example of the huge goodwill that India enjoyed among all countries, the rich and the powerful, and the small and the poor.

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Former Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat calls coronavirus a living organism, says it has 'right to live'

First oxygen express reaches Chennai from Durgapur: Piyush Goyal

In Aligarh, people follow Covid protocols while offering namaz prayers on Eid

As many as 31,13,24,100 Covid samples have been tested in the country up till May 13, says Indian Council of Medical Research

4,000 single-day Covid deaths for third day in a row; 3.43 lakh new infections

Passengers will have to return both a negative Covid-19 test result and a negative rapid antigen test result prior to departure: Australian PM Scott Morrison

Ban on Indian flights to Australia ends tonight, facilitated commercial flights by the Australian Government to resume

False-negatives compound Covid-19 ordeal for many in Bengaluru

Thousands of Covid-19 sufferers who have symptoms of the disease are testing negative on RT-PCR but go on to show trademark Covid-19 lung manifestations when subject to CT scans.

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Don't have enough data on Covaxin but Sputnik is efficacious: Dr Anthony Fauci

Vaccine passport isn't going to be mandated from federal standpoint in US. Travel is going to depend on level of infection. India has very high level of infection. It'd be difficult to resume travel there right now: Dr Anthony Fauci

Odisha reports 12,390 new Covid-19 cases, 8,665 recoveries and 22 deaths in the last 24 hours

(ANI)

Centre to make more vaccines available soon, shares information

India's cumulative vaccinations cross 18 crore

Extending duration between first and second dose is reasonable approach: Fauci

EU countries send medicines, medical equipment to India

India should work with other countries to ramp up vaccine production: Anthony Fauci

Centre says Bharat Biotech ready to share Covaxin technology to ramp up production

The Centre on Thursday said that Bharat Biotech, the Hyderabad-based manufacturer of Covaxin, is willing to share the vaccine technology with other companies for scaling up the production of the homegrown shot against Covid-19, provided such companies have the required facilities to handle a live virus.

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Opinion | Covid-19: India basking in global aid?

There is a strange, even a bizarre, sense of self-satisfaction, if not self-congratulation, among officials and policy wonks about the international aid from more than 40 countries.

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How proning can help Covid patients

Lying face down is known as proning. It is a medically accepted position to improve oxygenation.

Read more on proning here

Indian, South African coronavirus variants found in Americas, WHO expert says

The four most worrying coronavirus variants have been detected in virtually all countries and territories of the Americas, but although they are more transmissible there is no evidence they are more lethal, a World Health Organization expert said on Thursday.

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