Coronavirus highlights: Congress leader Manish Tewari tests positive for Covid-19

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Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 2,813 new coronavirus cases, highest in nearly four months, and one pandemic-related death, the state health department said.

Moderna says new trial results show that a revised vaccine works better against Omicron

Moderna released preliminary results on Wednesday on an updated coronavirus vaccine that targets the omicron variant, calling it “our lead candidate” to serve as a USbooster shot in the fall.

The firm’s researchers tested a booster dose combining the original vaccine with one that specifically targeted omicron, the variant that became dominant last winter. They found that among those with no evidence of prior coronavirus infection, the combination produced 1.75 times the level of neutralizing antibodies against omicron as the existing Moderna vaccine did alone. (NYT)

Shanghai to lock down and test 2.7 million as Covid fears linger

Shanghai will lock down a district of 2.7 million people on Saturday to conduct mass coronavirus testing, city authorities said, as the Chinese metropolis struggles to fully emerge from punishing curbs.

The city eased many restrictions last week, after confining most of its 25 million residents to their homes since March as China battled its worst Covid outbreak in two years.(AFP)

Puducherry adds four new coronavirus cases, overall tally rises to 1,65,914

The union territory of Puducherry logged four fresh Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 1,65,914, a senior official of the Department of Health said on Thursday. There were no fatalities from any of the four regions in the last 24 hours ending 10 am Thursday, Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release, adding that the death toll remained at 1,962.(PTI)

BJP leader Fadnavis tests negative for coronavirus

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday tested negative for Covid-19, a close aide said. Fadnavis, the leader of opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, had tested positive for the infection on Sunday and was in home isolation. The BJP MLA was in Latur to attend a public function on Saturday, and his RT-PCR test came positive the next day, forcing him to isolate himself at his official residence here. “

One new Covid-19 case in Andamans

The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 10,053 on Thursday as one more person tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.

The fresh infection was detected during contact tracing, it said.

The Union territory now has six active cases, while 9,918 people have recovered from the disease, and 129 patients have succumbed to the infection to date.

The administration has thus far tested over 7.42 lakh samples and fully vaccinated 3.40 lakh people.

7,240 fresh Covid-19 cases in India, active caseload at 32,498

Covid-19 cases in India continued to rise as the nation on Thursday reported 7,240 fresh Covid-19 infections, taking the overall tally to 4,31,97,522, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The active cases soared past the 30,000 mark after an increase of 3,641 cases in the last 24 hours. The active caseload currently stands at 32,498.

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Beijing reports zero local Covid-19 infections

Beijing reported no new locally transmitted Covid-19 cases during the first 15 hours of Wednesday, according to local authorities.

Coronavirus: 19 new cases in Chhattisgarh, one death; active tally now 76

Chhattisgarh on Wednesday reported 19 coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally to 11,52,543, while the death toll increased by one to reach 14,035, an official said.

Shanghai's Minhang district announces new lockdown

The sprawling district of Minhang in central Shanghai has implemented new lockdown measures to detect and control Covid-19 transmission risks, the district government said on Thursday.