Coronavirus News highlights: Karnataka logs 16,387 new cases, 463 deaths

India reported 1,32,788 new Covid-19 cases and 3,207 deaths in the last 24 hours, reported the Health Ministry. A consignment of 15 Ventilators and 12,000 tablets of Favipiravir arrived in the country from Iceland early on Wednesday, as per the MEA. The IMA revealed data saying 594 doctors died during the second wave of the pandemic.

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218 new cases push Nagaland s Covid-19 tally to 22,072

Nagalands Covid-19 caseload rose to 22,072 on Wednesday as 218 more people tested positive for the infection, said Health Minister S Pangnyu Phom.

Jharkhand reports 9 more Covid-19 fatalities, 609 fresh cases

Jharkhand reported nine new Covid-19 deaths, continuing with the declining trend of fatalities, even as 609 more people tested positive, a health department bulletin said on Wednesday.

The death toll rose to 5,000, while the coronavirus tally stood at 3,38,383, it said. (PTI)

Covid-19: Karnataka logs 16,387 new cases, 21,199 recoveries

The death toll due to Covid-19 in Karnataka crossed 30,000, as the state on Wednesday reported 463 fatalities and 16,387 new cases, taking the total number of infections to 26,35,122, the health department said.

The day also saw 21,199 discharges.

As of June 2 evening, cumulatively 26,35,122 Covid-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 30,017 deaths and 23,12,060 discharges, the Health department said in its bulletin. (PTI)

Vaccination drive to remain suspended in Mumbai on June 3

The Covid-19 vaccination drive will remain suspended in Mumbai on Thursday at the centres run by the city civic body and the Maharashtra government due to the unavailability of a sufficient number of doses, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Wednesday. (PTI)

France to offer Covid vaccines to 12 to 18-year-olds from June 15: Macron

France will start offering Covid-19 vaccines to all youths aged between 12 and 18 starting on June 15, President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday.

During a visit to the village of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in southern France, Macron also noted that 50 percent of French adults have now received at least one Covid vaccine jab, calling it "truly a turning point" in the country's inoculation drive. (Reuters)

Britain seeks extra AstraZeneca shots to combat Beta Covid-19 variant

Britain is in talks with AstraZeneca for additional doses of its Covid-19 vaccine that will have been modified to better target the Beta coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa, health minister Matt Hancock said on Wednesday.

Britain has previously secured 100 million doses of the vaccine, developed at the University of Oxford and licenced to AstraZeneca. (Reuters)

Rajasthan sees 65 more Covid deaths, 1,276 new cases

Rajasthan recorded 1,276 fresh coronavirus cases and 65 deaths due to the disease on Wednesday, taking the infection tally to 9,42,236 and the toll to 8,515, according to an official report.

Jaipur recorded a maximum of seven such deaths, followed by Jodhpur (6) besides fatalities registered in other cities, the report said. (PTI)

DRDO builds another 500-bed Covid care centre in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Wednesday virtually inaugurated a 500-bed hospital set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for Covid-19 patients in Haldwani, the defence ministry said.

This is the second Covid care centre built by the DRDO in the state, after Rishikesh.

"This facility comprises 375 oxygen beds and 125 ICU beds with ventilators. With 100 per cent power backup, it is centrally air conditioned for all weather conditions," the ministry mentioned. (PTI)

About 12% of Russians have had one dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Russia has administered at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to more than 18 million people, around 12 per centof the population, the TASS news agency cited Health Minister Mikhail Murashko as saying on Wednesday.

The figure suggests another 1 million people have been vaccinated in the past week. (Reuters)

Time has come for Karnataka to move forward and "re-open" the economy as the State has reached a stage where it can resume industrial operations in a staggered phase, Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar said on Wednesday, as he took note of the impact of Covid lockdown on industries.

The state government today held a meeting with industry representatives and office-bearers from industry bodies to discuss issues concerning business impact due to Covid lockdown, during which they also sought for waiver of tariff, taxes, and to boost vaccination drive. (PTI)

Covid-19: TNAU employees donate Rs 2 crore to CMPRF

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has donated Rs 2 crore as a contribution from the employees, to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund.

TNAU Vice-chancellor Dr N Kumar handed over the cheque for the amount, which was voluntary contribution of employees' two-day salary, to Chief Minister M K Stalin recently to support the government's efforts in fighting the Covid pandemic, a TNAU release said on Wednesday. (PTI)

Over 22 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country, Ministry of Health has stated. (ANI)

West Bengal Higher Secondary Board has formed an expert committee to discuss whether Class 12 examination can be conducted during the prevailing Covid-19crisis. The report will be submitted within 72 hours, reports ANI.

Uttarakhand Board Class 12 exams have been cancelled, announcedstate's Education Minister Arvind Pandey

Andhra Pradesh has reported12,768 new Covid-19 cases, 98 deaths, and 15,612 recoveries in the last 24 hours

Lockdown 2020: Over 8,700 people died on railway tracks during year, many of them migrants

Over 8,700 people were mowed down on railway tracks in 2020 even though passenger train services were severely curtailed due to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown, with officials saying many of the victims were migrant workers.

The Railway Board shared the data on such deaths for the period between January and December 2020 in its reply to a question by Madhya Pradesh-based activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur under the Right to Information Act. (PTI)

AMU pro-chancellor dies due to Covid complications

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Pro-chancellor Ibne Saeed Khan died at his home here due to Covid complications, his family said on Wednesday.

Khan, 98, passed away on Tuesday night, according to a release issued by the university.

He was the longest living alumnus of the AMU and had held several posts in different governing bodies of the university, including that of honorary treasurer for the past thirty years. (PTI)

Mamata Banerjee has claimed that the Centre's promise of vaccinating all citizens before December2021 is just a hoax. "They just say baseless things.The Centre is not sending vaccines to state governments. The Centre should procure vaccines for states and give it free of cost to all," she said.

AstraZeneca says working with governments to boost COVAX donations

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot on Wednesday said the firm was working with the COVAX vaccine-sharing mechanism and governments to boost Covid-19 vaccine supplies to the scheme, including through donations of doses.

"Restrictions in international trading create ripple effects in the supply chain. It is also clear that vaccine donations are essential," Soriot said, welcoming a pledge by Japan to increase its support for the COVAX programme. (Reuters)

Delhi records 576 fresh Covid-19 cases, 103 fatalities; positivity rate 0.78 per cent. (PTI)

BREAKING |Madhya Pradesh state board had cancelledclass 12th board exams

Japan's hosting of Olympics in pandemic 'not normal', adviser warns

Japan's most senior medical adviser said on Wednesday that hosting the Olympics during the nation's current state of coronavirus infections was "not normal" in one of the strongest warnings yet about risks from the troubled Games.

Doctors have said the Olympics, due to start on July 23 after postponement from last year, would strain a healthcare system already seeing record numbers in critical condition.

Only 2.7 per centof Japanese have completed inoculations, a Reuters tracker shows. The pace of new infections has, however, slowed. (Reuters)

Frontload TN's June vaccine supplies from first week itself, Stalin tells Centre

The Tamil Nadu government has urged the Centre to 'frontload' its June vaccine supplies from the first week itself, saying it has "almost exhausted" the doses and the vaccination programme in the state was coming to a "grinding halt." Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, also reiterating Tamil Nadu's earlier demand to operationalise the Integrated Vaccine Complex (IVC) at Chengalpattu near here. (PTI)

India stands third compared to other countries, in terms of vaccinating its citizens: G Kishan Redd

India stands third compared to other countries, in terms of vaccinating its citizens. We have simplified import rules so private hospitals can import vaccines. Vaccination drive will run for the next 7-8 months. Be assured that everyone will get vaccine: MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy

Centre has made action plans to vaccinate all by end of December and for production of 250 crore Covid vaccine doses after speaking to several pharma companies: G Kishan Reddy

Centre has made action plans to vaccinate all by end of December (2021) andfor production of 250 crore Covid vaccine doses after speaking to several pharma companies. Sputnik arrived in Hyderabad yesterday, discussions are on to get Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson too: MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy

GAVI in talks with China's Sinovax to expand COVAX supply, says spokesperson (Reuters)

Russia's CoviVac more than 80% effective against Covid-19 (Reuters)

Covid death tally goes up to 190 in Ladakh, 88 fresh cases reported in Leh

The Covid death toll in Ladakh has climbed to 190 following a fatality in Kargil, while 88 fresh cases pushed the overall tally to 18,750 in the union territory, officials said on Wednesday.

The number of active cases in Ladakh stand at 1,581 which includes 1,386 cases in Leh district and 213 cases in Kargil district, they said. (PTI)

Mizoram logs 235 new Covid-19 cases, 4 more deaths in 24 hours (PTI)

Covid-19 vaccines India: Pfizer, Moderna closer to indemnity

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Malaysia reports 7,703 new coronavirus cases (Reuters)

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated a Covid vaccination drive at Indian Oil Headquarters in Bhubaneswar (ANI)

Arunachal Pradesh reports 370 new Covid-19 cases, 1 more death in 24 hours

Arunachal Pradesh reported 370 new infections, pushing the tally in the state to 27,642, a senior health department official said on Wednesday.

The Covid-19 death toll in the state increased to 116 after a woman succumbed to the infection on Tuesday, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. (PTI)

India's healthcare is in shambles and frontline workers are bearing the brunt

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India reports 1,32,788 new Covid-19 cases, 2,31,456 discharges and 3,207 deaths in the last 24 hours: Health Ministry

35,00,57,330 samples for Covid tested up to June 1, inclusive of data reconciled by the States, of which 20,19,773 were tested yesterday: ICMR

Melbourne Covid-19 lockdown extended to second week

A pandemic lockdown in Australia's second largest city will be extended for a second week due to concerns over a growing cluster of coronavirus infections.

Victoria state acting Premier James Merlino on Wednesday confirmed that Melbourne will remain in lockdown for seven more days from Friday, but pandemic restrictions will be eased elsewhere in the state.(PTI)

Only one strain of B.1.617 Delta variant of concern: WHO

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Post-Covid Japan may see inflation perk up: Bank of Japan board member (Reuters)

Recession, violence among Covid-19 side effects in Africa

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594 doctors died during the second wave of Covid-19: IMA

Israel sees probable link between Pfizer vaccine and myocarditis cases

Israel's Health Ministry said on Tuesday it found the small number of heart inflammation cases observed mainly in young men who received Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine in Israel were likely linked to their vaccination.

Pfizer has said it has not observed a higher rate of the condition, known as myocarditis, than would normally be expected in the general population.

In Israel, 275 cases of myocarditis were reported between December 2020 and May 2021 among more than 5 million vaccinated people, the ministry said in disclosing the findings of a study it commissioned to examine the matter. (Reuters)

A consignment of 15 Ventilators and 12000 tablets of Favipiravir arrived from Iceland early on Wednesday: MEA

Mizoram reported 235 Covid-19 cases and 2 deaths yesterday, taking active cases to 3,243 and death toll to 44: State government

CBSE, CISCE Class 12 Board examinations cancelled due to Covid-19

The CBSE and CISCE Class 12 examinations have been cancelled owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, ending weeks of uncertainty that had students and parents on the edge.

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Centre plans to augment paediatric Covid-19 facilities

The Union government on Tuesday said it planned to augment the paediatric Covid facilities by 2-3 times in order to prepare for the future even though only 2-3% Covid-19 affected children may need hospital care.

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Study finds under-reporting of Covid-19 cases, deaths in Karnataka

Research by scientists at the University of Michigan and Karnataka suggests that there is under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths and cases in Karnataka and across India.

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