Coronavirus News Highlights: India has capacity to produce 5 billion doses of vaccine in 2022, says Modi at 2nd Global Covid Summit

North Korea has confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19 and declared a "severe national emergency", with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to "eliminate" the virus, state media said Thursday. The Union government is set to relax the norms for Covid vaccine precaution dose, allowing those going overseas to get the jab before the stipulated nine-month waiting period as required by the destination country, sources said on Wednesday.

India has capacity to produce 5 billion doses of vaccine in 2022, says Modi at 2nd Global Covid Summit

"We have made the highest-ever allocation to our annual healthcare budget. Our vaccination program is the largest in the world,"Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Second Global Covid Summit.

India adopted people-centric strategy to fight Covid, says Modi

"The Covidpandemic continues to disrupt lives, supply chains and test the resilience of open societies. In India, we adopted a people-centric strategy against the pandemic,"Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at Second Global Covid Summit.

1,032 new Covid-19 cases in Delhi; positivity rate 3.64%

Delhi on Thursday recorded 1,032 fresh Covid-19 cases and zero death, while the positivity rate stood at 3.64 per cent, according to data shared by the state health department.

With these new cases, the national capital's overall Covid tally has increased to 18,98,173 while the death toll stood at 26,184.

Delhi reported 970 fresh Covid cases at a positivity rate of 3.34 per cent and one death on Wednesday. (PTI)

Puducherry logs 2 new Covid-19 cases, tally rises to 1,65,801

The union territory of Puducherry added two fresh coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours pushing the overall caseload to 1,65,801, a senior official of Department of Health said on Thursday. The two new infections emerged after the examination of 314 samples and the active cases rose to seven, Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release here.(PTI)

Over 50% Covid survivors show one symptom even two years after infection: Lancet study

More than half of people hospitalised with Covid-19 still have at least one symptom two years after they were first infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to the longest follow-up study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal.

The research followed 1,192 participants in China infected with SARS-CoV-2 during the first phase of the pandemic in 2020.

Read more

Three active Covid-19 cases in Andamans

Three Covid-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a health bulletin said on Thursday.

The coronavirus tally of the Union Territory remained unchanged at 10,039 as no fresh infection was recorded in the last 24 hours, it said.

The three active patients are undergoing home quarantine, the bulletin said.(PTI)

Thane district reports 18 new Covid-19 cases

The tally of coronavirus cases in Thane district of Maharashtra rose by 18 to reach 7,09,268, an official said on Thursday. These cases were reported on Wednesday. As nobody succumbed to the infection during the day, the death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,894, he said, adding that the mortality rate is 1.67 per cent. In neighbouring Palghar district, the case count stood at 1,63,612 and the death toll is 3,407, another official said.(PTI)

Shanghai hunts down Covid cases, Beijing curbs taxi services

Shanghai authorities combed the city on Thursday for its last Covid-19 cases in the hope of clearing the way for an exit from a painful six-week lockdown, while Beijing curbed taxi services to keep a lid on its smaller outbreak.

The Chinese commercial hub of 25 million people has in recent days been tightening its lockdown for a final push to eradicate the virus by the end of the month, having made some significant progress, according to data this week.

Shanghai's mass testing detected just two new cases outside areas facing the strictest curbs on May 11, officials said on Thursday, but that was two more than none the previous day.(Reuters)

India sees 2,827 new Covid-19 cases, 24 more deaths

India on Thursday reported a slight drop in daily Covid-19 infections with 2,827 new cases and 24 deaths. On Wednesday, the country had reported 2,897 cases.

With recoveries exceeding fresh infections, the active caseload dropped to 19,067.

Meanwhile, 3,230 persons recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 98.74 per cent.

Read more

Govt reduces gap between 2nd dose and booster for those travelling abroad

The Union government is set to relax the norms for Covid vaccine precaution dose, allowing those going overseas to get the jab before the stipulated nine-month waiting period as required by the destination country, sources said on Wednesday.

Read more

41% parents unwilling to vaccinate kids aged 6-12 against Covid-19: Survey

As much as 41 per centof parents in India are currently unwilling to vaccinate their children aged 6-12 years, according to a survey by LocalCircles, a community-based social media platform.

Read more

North Korea reports first Covid-19 outbreak, declares emergency

North Korea has confirmed its first-ever case of Covid-19 and declared a "severe national emergency", with leader Kim Jong Un vowing to "eliminate" the virus, state media said Thursday.