Coronavirus News Highlights: No new lockdown, assures Maharashtra health minister

India reported 45,352 Covid cases, 366 deaths in 24 hours, as per data by the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, About 300 cases of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 have been found in India, the government said, noting that vaccine has been found to be effective against the strain.

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Over 67.65 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India: Govt

The cumulative Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 67.65 crore on Friday, the Union health ministry said.

As many as 51,88,894 vaccine doses were administered on Friday, it said.

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Biological E's Covid-19 vaccine gets regulatory nod for kids trial

The Indian drug regulator has approved a human trial of Biological E’s Covid-19 vaccine for efficacy on kids above 5 years besides permitting the phase-III clinical trial of the same vaccine on adults to check its ability to protect them from serious diseases and death.

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No new lockdown, assures Maharashtra health minister

Lockdown would not be imposed in Maharashtra in coming days, health minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday. “There is no possibility of fresh lockdown in the near future. I appeal people to avoid crowding while celebrating the Ganesh festival. The celebration should be simple,” he told reporters here. “The government has been issuing various guidelines and they should be followed all the time,” he added. Maharashtra reported 4,313 new Covid-19 cases and 92 deaths on Friday. - PTI.

Kerala logs 29,322 new Covid-19 cases

Kerala logged 29,322 new Covid-19 cases on Friday after testing 1.63 lakh samples, pushing the infection count to over 41.51 lakh. With 131 people succumbing to the virus today, the death toll mounted to 21,280.

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Biden says he will lay out next steps to combat Delta variant next week

President Joe Biden said on Friday that he would lay out his administration's next steps to combat the Covid-19 Delta variant next week while calling the US economic recovery durable and strong.

"We need to make more progress in fighting the Delta variant," Biden said in remarks from the White House. - Reuters.

UK advisers decide against Covid vaccines for healthy 12- to 15-year-olds

Britain's vaccine advisers said they were not recommending the universal vaccination of 12- to 15-year-olds against Covid-19, preferring to take a precautionary approach to assess the long-term impacts of rare heart inflammation.

There have been reports of heart inflammation, known as myocarditis, in young people following vaccination with Pfizer's shot, though the condition is usually mild. - Reuters.

After dropping below one, Covid R-value rises sharply to 1.17 in second half of August

The R-value which reflects how rapidly coronavirus pandemic is spreading, has sharply risen close to 1.2 over the last fortnight, mainly driven by cases in states like Kerala and Maharashtra, say researchers.

The R-value calculated between August 24-29 stood at 1.17 as against 0.89 between August 14-17, according to the researchers at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai.

The rise in the R-value comes after a steady decline in cases in the first half of August in the country. - PTI.

Andhra Pradesh government to examine need for Covid-19 booster dose

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy has asked the state health officials to examine the reports suggesting provision of a Covid-19 booster dose for the public to augment protection against the virus.

The state has so far administered vaccines to over 2.18 crore people, with more than 84 lakh individuals having received both doses.

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Country's economy is booming after second Covid wave, that's what we have read: SC

New Delhi, Sep 3 (PTI) “Economy is booming in the country after the second Covid wave”, said the Supreme Court on Friday as it refused to entertain a batch of pleas seeking contempt action against Governor of Reserve Bank of India and senior officials of other banks for declaring the loan accounts as Non-Performing Assets (NPA).

The top court said that contempt is between court and contemnor and it is not inclined to initiate contempt action against senior officials of banks.

“In our considered view, we are not inclined to exercise our contempt jurisdiction, since it is not in the interest of justice,” said a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli. - PTI.

Sikkim logs 46 new Covid-19 cases, 2 fresh fatalities

Sikkim's Covid-19 tally rose to 30,070 on Friday as 46 more people tested positive for the infection, while two fresh fatalities pushed the Himalayan state's coronavirus death toll to 373, a health bulletin said.

East Sikkim reported the highest number of new cases at 28, followed by 14 in West Sikkim, three in South Sikkim and one in North Sikkim, it said.

Sikkim now has 989 active cases, while 28,425 people have recovered from the disease, and 283 patients have migrated to other states so far. - PTI.

Ho Chi Minh City could lift lockdown, end 'zero Covid-19' policy

Vietnam's coronavirus epicentre Ho Chi Minh City, which has kept residents confined at home under lockdown, is considering reopening economic activity from Sept. 15, shifting from a "zero Covid-19" strategy to a policy of living with the virus.

The city of 9 million people is targeting a phased reopening and the full vaccination of its citizens by the end of this year, according to the draft seen by Reuters, which has yet to be endorsed. - Reuters.

35 fresh Covid-19 cases in Delhi, no deaths

Delhi on Friday recorded 35 fresh Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.05 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

No fresh deaths were recorded in the city, the data stated.

This is the 22nd time since the start of the second wave of the pandemic that the national capital has not seen any deaths in a day. - PTI.

US shipping more coronavirus vaccines to African countries

The United States will ship more than 1.2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to four African countries through the global COVAX distribution program on Friday, a White House official said.

The shipments include 250,320 doses of the Moderna vaccine for the Democratic Republic of Congo, 657,080 Moderna doses for Uganda, 302,400 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for Guinea; and 35,100 doses of the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech for Seychelles. - Reuters.

EU reviewing cases of rare body inflammation after Covid-19 shots

Europe's medicines regulator said on Friday it was reviewing cases of multisystem inflammatory syndrome after inoculation with Covid-19 vaccines, following a report of a similar case with Pfizer/BioNTech's shot.

The European Medicines Agency's safety committee is also looking into cases of blood clots in the vein with Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, the regulator said, adding that the issue was distinct from a rare side-effect identified earlier. -Reuters.

England's Covid-19 prevalence unchanged at 1 in 70, ONS says

The prevalence of Covid-19 infections in England was around 1 in 70 people in the week ending Aug. 27, Britain's Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday, unchanged from the previous week's estimate. - Reuters.

China faces difficulties in expanding Covid-19 vaccination drive, official says

China is facing growing difficulties in expanding its mass Covid-19 vaccination drive, but it will continue to inoculate more people and step up the programme of booster shots, a health official said on Friday.

Zheng Zhongwei, an official at the National Health Commission, did not specify the obstacles but stressed that those who have not been vaccinated could not rely on being protected by those who have had the shots amid concerns over the highly transmissible Delta variant. - Reuters.

Maharashtra Dy CM urges people to follow Covid-19 norms; not make govt shut everything during third wave

Expressing concerns over people letting their guard down against Covid-19 in rural areas, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday urged citizens not to put the state government in a position where it has to shut everything in the event of a third wave of the pandemic. Speaking to reporters here, Pawar said the Centre has already cautioned all the states, citing that Kerala and Maharashtra have been reporting the highest number of cases. - PTI.

UN: Brief gains in air quality in 2020 over Covid lockdowns

The UN weather agency says the world — and especially urban areas — experienced a brief, sharp drop in emissions of air pollutants last year amid lockdown measures and related travel restrictions put in place over the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Meteorological Organization, releasing its first ever Air Quality and Climate Bulletin on Friday, cautioned that the reductions in pollution were patchy — and many parts of the world showed levels that outpaced air quality guidelines. Some types of pollutants continued to emerge at regular or even higher levels. - AP.

Sri Lanka extends Covid-19 lockdown till September 13

Sri Lanka on Friday extended its nationwide lockdown till September 13, amidst a surge in the number ofCovid-19 deaths and mounting pressure on the healthcare system during the third wave of coronavirus.

Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa had ordered a 10-day lockdown on August 20.

The decision to extend the lockdown was taken following theCovidtaskforce meeting with President Gotabhaya on Friday, officials said.

(PTI)

India's Biological E Covid-19 vaccine candidate gets DCGI approval for 2 clinical trials

Russia reports 7999 deaths from Covid-19 in 24 hours

AstraZeneca, EU reach settlement on delivery of Covid-19 vaccine doses

The European Commission and AstraZeneca said on Friday they had reached a settlement on the delivery of the remaining Covid-19 vaccine doses by the British drugmaker and have also ended the pending litigation in Brussels.

(Reuters)

Odisha logs 849 new Covid-19 cases, 7 fresh fatalities (PTI)

China administered total of 2.085 bln doses of Covid-19 vaccines as of Sept 2 (Reuters)

Pakistan's Covid-19 death toll crosses 26,000

Pakistan's coronavirus death toll crossed the grim figure of 26,000 on Friday, even as the country reported 3,787 new cases during the last 24 hours.

So far the country has recorded 1,171,578 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 26,035 total deaths since the first patient was diagnosed on February 26, 2020, the Ministry of National Health Services reported.

The data showed that the pandemic death rate has been 2.2 per cent in Pakistan, whereas an overwhelming number of 1,055,467 or over 90 per cent cases have fully recovered so far. Another 88,076 or 7.5 per cent are still active patients.

(PTI)

Sri Lanka begins vaccinating 20-30 yrs age group

Sri Lanka has begun vaccinating 20-somethings as it nears full vaccination of older people and struggles with a surge of delta variant infections.

The health ministry says 3.7 million people are in the 20-30 age group and they plan to complete their inoculation before the end of October.

(AP)

One new case takes Covid-19 tally of Andamans to 7,567 (PTI)

Arunachal logs 54 new Covid-19 cases, one more fatality (PTI)

UK to send four million vaccine doses to Australia

Britain will send four millionCovid-19 vaccine doses to Australia, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced Friday, as his country raced to halt a deadly virus outbreak.

(AFP)

India logs 45,352 new Covid-19 cases, 366 fatalities

India on Friday reported 45,352 new Covid-19 cases and 366 fatalities, data from Union Health Ministry showed.

Of these, Kerala reported 32,097 new infections and 188 deaths on Thursday.

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New Zealand sees success in curbing Delta outbreak as new cases plunge

New Zealand reported 28 new cases ofCovid-19 on Friday, a big drop compared to the last few days, as authorities said the country was breaking the chain of transmission of the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus.

Authorities said 27 new cases were in Auckland and one was in Wellington. Friday's numbers were lower than 49 new cases reported on Thursday and 75 the day before.

(Reuters)

Thane district's Covid-19 tally grows by 269, death toll by seven (PTI)

75% exposed to Covid-19 in Bengaluru: Serosurvey

Preliminary results of the serosurvey, which was launched by municipal authorities in early August has shown that over 75% of the sample population in Bengaluruhave antibodies for Covid-19.

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US to invest $3 billion in Covid-19 vaccine supply chain: White House official

The US plans to invest $3 billion in the vaccine supply chain as it continues to work to position the United States as a leading supplier of vaccines for the world, a top US health official said on Thursday.

The funding, which will begin to be distributed in the coming weeks, will focus on manufacturers of the inputs used in Covid-19 vaccine production as well as facilities that fill and package vaccine vials, White House Covid adviser Jeffrey Zients said during a news conference.

(Reuters)

75% exposed to Covid-19 in Bengaluru: Serosurvey

Preliminary results of the serosurvey, which was launched by municipal authorities in early August has shown that over 75% of the sample population in Bengaluru have antibodies for Covid-19.

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Bengaluru construction workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 from today

Starting with the construction workers at the Bengaluru International Airport, the Labour Department has identified 135 construction sites and labour colonies across the city where vaccination for labourers will begin from Friday by private hospitals at no cost to the labourers or loss of the day’s wages.

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300 cases of Delta Plus Covid variant found in India: Govt

About 300 cases of Delta Plus variant of Covid-19 have been found in India, the government said, noting that vaccine has been found to be effective against the strain.

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