Coronavirus News highlights: Delhi logs 412 deaths, 25,219 new Covid-19 cases

India on Saturday posted another grim record with over 4 lakh fresh Covid-19 cases in a single day and nearly 3,500 deaths. The country reported more than 66 lakh coronavirus cases in April 2021 alone. On the vaccination front, many states have delayed the phase covering the 18-45 age group, which is set to begin today, due to shortage of vaccines. A desperate effort to meet the acute shortage of oxygen, beds and medicines continues. Stay tuned for more updates.

Russia looking forward to cooperate with India to contain Covid-19

As the first batch of 1,50,000 doses of Russian-made Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine arrived in India, Russia on Saturday said it was looking forward to further expand bilateral and multilateral cooperation with New Delhi to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

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Karnataka relaxes lockdown rules, grocery shops permitted to stay open from 6 am to 12 pm

Karnataka modified its lockdown order Saturday to allow Hopcoms, milk booths, and sale of fruits and vegetables on pushcarts from 6 am to 6 pm.

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Congress launches doctors' helpline, plasma donors directory

Congress on Saturday launched a medical advisory helpline and a plasma help link for those battling Covid-19 at a time when the second wave of the pandemic has been raging throughout the country.

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412 deaths, 25,219 new cases, and 27,421 recoveries reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours; active cases 96,747

(ANI)

IGST on import of Oxygen Concentrators for personal use reduced to 12% from 28%, to be applicable up to the June 30, 2021

Haryana reports 13,588 fresh cases, 125 deaths and 8,509 recoveries; active cases 1,02,516

(ANI)

Delhi Police to take strict action against those black marketing Covid-19 drugs, hoarding oxygen

Delhi Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava on Saturday directed senior officers to take strict action against those who are overcharging for ambulances and indulging in black marketing and hoarding of medicines and oxygen, critical for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, a statement said.

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A family member of a Covid-19 patient carries a cylinder containing medical oxygen after refilling, as demand for the gas rises due to spike in coronavirus cases, in New Delhi, Saturday, May 1, 2021. Credit: PTI Photo

Covid-19 vaccination of those above 18 years of age to start in Haryana from tomorrow in all districts at the designated centers, says Haryana Minister Anil Vij

(ANI)

Maharashtra reports 63,282 new cases, 802 deaths and 61,326 discharges; active cases 6,63,758.

(ANI)

Karnataka records 40,990 new cases and 271 fatalities in the last 24 hours; case tally at 15,64,132 and active cases at 4,05,068.

(ANI)

Delhi receives 4.5 lakh vaccines, will begin inoculating people in 18-44 age group from Monday: CM Arvind Kejriwal at 'symbolic launch' of vaccination drive.

(ANI)

A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, under a tent installed along the roadside amid Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in Ghaziabad on May 1, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

Sent 3,000 oxygen concentrators to help India: UNICEF

The UNICEF said on Saturday that it sent critical lifesaving supplies, including 3,000 oxygen concentrators, to help India amid the ravaging second coronavirus wave.

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Coronavirus wrecks Delhi's health infrastructure

Corona curfew at night shall continue in all municipal/urban local body limits of all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir. Night curfew will be in force from 8 pm to 7 am. Other restrictions will continue as before: Jammu and Kashmir government

(ANI)

1,000 people in 18-44 group inoculated in Mumbai on first day of phase 3 vaccination drive

(PTI)

4,176 train coaches have been converted into Covid-19 isolation/quarantine facilities: Railway Board, Chairman and CEO

(ANI)

Chandigarh reports 799 new cases and 11 deaths; active cases 7,222

(ANI)

17,652 new cases, 160 deaths and 11,676 recoveries reported in Rajasthan today; active cases 1,82,301

(ANI)

Tamil Nadu reports 19,588 new cases, 147 deaths and 17,164 recoveries; active cases 1,15,128.

(ANI)

Delhi govt extends Covid-19 lockdown by a week

The Delhi government has taken the decision to extend the Covid-19 lockdown in the national capital by a week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday.

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5,493 fresh positive cases, 107 deaths and 3,644 recoveries reported in Uttarakhand today; active cases 51,127.

(ANI)

Oxygen available in Jammu and Kashmir? SOS calls say otherwise

As the Jammu and Kashmir government’s claims availability of oxygen, ICU beds, and medicines, the Covid-19 crisis seems to have worsened in the union territory in recent days with social media filled with desperate SOS calls.

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Locals pay no heed to ‘janata curfew’ in parts of Karnataka

CJI NV Ramana reschedules Supreme Court's summer vacation due to alarming rise in Covid cases

(ANI)

Delhi Police have arrested an ambulance driver and seized his ambulance for demanding Rs 8,500 for shifting a Covid-19 patient from Apollo hospital to Holy family hospital, a distance of 2-km: Police

(ANI)

Sudhakar rules out stringent lockdown in Karnataka for now

Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Saturday said there is no proposal before the State government to impose a stringent lockdown though he admitted that at least three to four weeks of strict measures were required to contain the spread of the Covid-19.

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I've ordered 200 oxygen concentrators and will distribute them among people for free. It will start tomorrow. People have to bring doctor's prescription and patient's oxygen level details to get oxygen concentrators: BJP MP from East Delhi, Gautam Gambhir

(ANI)

The first lot of Sputnik V vaccines from Russia arrives in Hyderabad. (ANI)

This handout photo taken on May 1, 2021, and receive from the Presidential Communications Operations Office - Office of the Global Media and Public Affairs (PCOO-OGMPA) shows workers unloading first batch of the Russian-madeSputnikV coronavirus vaccine from a plane shortly after arriving at the international airport in Manila. Credit: AFP

A man wearing a face shield receives a dose of Covishield, a coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India, at a vaccination centre in Mumbai, India, May 1, 2021. Credit: Reuters Photo

Pakistan to slash international flights to curb Covid-19 cases

Pakistan plans to reduce the number of inbound international flights to 20 per cent of current numbers to curb rising Covid-19 cases, the official body overseeing the country's pandemic response said on Saturday.

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HC questions Centre why four oxygen tankers, meant for Delhi, not yet released by Rajasthan govt despite orders

"There is a major issue of oxygen. SOS is coming from all hospitals. We have spoken in courts andwritten to the Centre that Delhi requires 976 tons of oxygen daily but we have been allotted only 490 tons of oxygen. Yesterday,we received only 312 tons. How will this work?,"Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has said.

JUST IN | Eight Covid-19 patients die due to oxygen shortage at Batra Hospital in Delhi

A four-day lockdown has been imposed from Thursday night to Monday morning in Goa amid an increase in Covid cases.

Only essential services like supermarkets, vegetable shops, grocery shops andsome fish shops are open from morning 7 to 12 noon,Goa Minister Michael Lobo has said.

MP: Truck laden with Covid-19 vaccine abandoned for 12 hrs

A truck carrying 2.40 lakh doses of Covaxin worth Rs 8 crore was left parked for nearly 12 hours after its driver went missing under mysterious circumstances in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district, police said on Saturday.

The Tamil Nadu-registered vehicle, which was transporting the vaccine from Hyderabad to Karnal in Haryana, was left abandoned for nearly 12 hours in Kareli area, Narsinghpur superintendent of police Vipul Shrivastava said. (PTI)

Chairman Mukesh Ambani is personally supervising the scale-up of production and transportation at Jamnagar. In April 2021, Reliance supplied over 15,000 MT of Medical Grade Liquid Oxygen free of cost,helping nearly 15 lakh patients, the company has said.

Reliance Industries has said that it has "become India's largest producer of Medical Grade Liquid Oxygen from single location" producingover 11 per centof India's total production of Medical Grade Liquid Oxygen andmeeting needs of nearly every 1 in 10 patients.

Supreme Court has allowed the process of counting of votes of Uttar Pradesh Gram Panchayat polls from tomorrow while taking into note the assurance given by the State Election Commission that necessary measures will take place at counting centers in terms ofCovid-19 guidelines. (ANI)

Thailand has sent15 oxygen concentrators to India as assistance to India in the fight against Covid-19.

Pakistan to slash international flights to curb Covid-19 cases

Pakistan plans to reduce the number of inbound international flights to 20% of current numbers to curb rising COVID-19 cases, the official body overseeing the country's pandemic response said on Saturday.

"In view of prevailing global and regional disease trends, Pakistan has decided to reduce inbound international travel from 5 May to 20th May," said the National Command Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees the government's pandemic response, on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear which routes and air carriers would be affected. (Reuters)

Sitar maestro Pandit Debu Chaudhuri dies of Covid related complications

Sitar maestro Pandit Debu Chaudhuri died of Covid related complications at a Delhi hospital on Saturday, his son Prateek Chaudhuri said. He was 85.

Prateek announced the death of his father, formally known as Devbrata Chaudhuri, on his official Facebook page.

"My Father, The Legend of Sitar, Pandit Debu Chaudhuri... is no more. He was admitted with Covid along with dementia complications and was put in ICU on ventilator around midnight today.( 1st May 2021)..after which he suffered a heart attack and could not be revived ..... In spite of all efforts and prayers he could not be saved," Prateek wrote. (PTI)

Don't go to vaccination centre unless you receive a message: Mumbai Mayor

Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said, "People who have registered on the Co-WIN app and received a message can go to vaccination centres. Don't go to centres until and unless you receive a message." (ANI)

Japan to approve Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine as soon as May 21

Japanese regulators are set to approve Moderna Inc's Covid-19 vaccine as soon as May 21, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported Saturday, without citing the source of the information.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co, Japan's biggest drugmaker, is handling domestic regulatory filing and imports of about 50 million doses of the Moderna shot, or enough for 25 million people. The first doses were flown into Japan from Europe on April 30, ahead of their official approval. (Reuters)

28,83,37,385 samples tested up to 30th April 2021 for Covid-19. Of these, 19,45,299 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

Australians to face five-year jail or hefty fine if they return home from India

Threatening a five-year jail term or hefty fine, the Australian government temporarily barred its citizens from entering the country if they happened to be in India within 14 days of their intended arrival.

The decision was announced after a meeting of the National Cabinet on Friday and will come into force from Monday.

The move aims at keeping the coronavirus spread in check in Australia as India is facing a surge in infections cases. (PTI)

USAID Covid-19 coordinator Jeremy Konyndyk, White House National Security Council and Embassy of India, Washington DC oversaw the send-off of the 4th plane carrying critical life-saving supplies to India. (ANI)

Former RJD MP Mohammad Shahabuddin has diedat a hospital in Delhi where he was under treatment for Covid-19.

US exempts categories of students, academics, journalists from India travel ban

Certain categories of students, academics, journalists and individuals have been exemption from the India travel ban announced by President Joe Biden, the US State Department said.

The exemptions were issued by Secretary of State Tony Blinken, hours after Biden issued a proclamation restricting travel from India beginning May 4 because of the "extraordinarily high Covid-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the country". (PTI)

Nine states, 2 UTs defer 18 and above vaccination drive; staggered launch in Rajasthan, UP, Gujarat

The third phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive is scheduled to begin on Saturday with the onus on state governments and private hospitals to administer the vaccine to those in the 18-44 years age group, while the Centre focusing its energies on vaccinating the “scientifically selected” priority group of 45 years and above.

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Indian Air Force C-17s airlifted 4 cryogenic oxygen containers from Singapore to Panagarh (West Bengal). The airlift of 4 more cryogenic oxygen containers from Singapore is in progress: Indian Air Force

Mumbai's BMC to start the 3rd phase of vaccination drive on May 1 to inoculate the 18-44 age group

Maharashtra| Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to start the 3rd phase of vaccination drive on May 1 to inoculate the 18-44 age group. The vaccination will be conducted between 1 to 6 pm. No walk-in vaccination facility allowed: BMC

BMC has listed Nair Hospital, BKC jumbo Covid Centre, Cooper Hospital, Seven Hills Hospital, and the Rajawadi hospital to administer the doses. A total of 20,000 doses will be administered across these centres.

ANI

Credit: AFP File Photo

Diaspora watch in despair as Covid-19 ravages India

Bad news, knowing no time zones, arrives in a jarring burst of messages, calls, and posts informing millions of members of India's worldwide diaspora that yet another loved one has been sickened or lost to the coronavirus.

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US to restrict travel from India from May 4 over Covid-19

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden's administration made the determination on the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Delhi sees 375 Covid-19 deaths, over 27,000 cases in a day; positivity rate 32.69%

It had reported 395 deaths, the highest since the pandemic began a year ago, on Thursday; 368 deaths on Wednesday; 381 on Tuesday; 380 on Monday; 350 on Sunday; 357 deaths on Saturday, and 348 on Friday, according to government data.

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Credit: PTI File Photo

States should focus on containment, vaccination: Centre

At a press conference, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said the country witnessed its first peak in September and is witnessing another peak in April.

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