09:40 (IST)
Coronavirus News Updates
India reports lowest daily cases in 54 days
India reported 1,27,510 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest daily figure reported in the last 54 days. In the same period, 2,795 deaths took the toll to 3,31,895, as per Health Ministry figures updated at 8 am.
The total cases now stand at 2,81,75,044, of which 18,95,520 are active.
Total 2,59,47,629 recoveries reported across the country so far after 2,55,287 patients recovered during last 24 hours. Recovery rate continues to increase, at 92.09 percent today. Daily Positivity Rate dipped to 6.62 percent, and has been less than 10 percent for seven consecutive days.
Meanwhile, over 21.6 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far.
09:27 (IST)
Coronavirus News Updates
COVID-19 variants to be labelled as Greek letters
The World Health Organisation is announcing a new nomenclature for the COVID-19 variants that were previously known either by their technical letter-number codes or by the countries in which they first appeared.
Hoping to strike a fair and more comprehensible balance, WHO said it will now refer to the most worrisome variants — known as “variants of concern” — by letters in the Greek alphabet.
So the first such variant of concern, which first appeared in Britain and can be also known as B.1.1.7, will be known as the “alpha” variant. The second, which turned up in South Africa and has been referred to as B.1.351, will be known as the “beta” variant.
A third that first appeared in Brazil will be called the “gamma” variant and a fourth that first turned up in India the “delta” variant. Future variants that rise to “of concern” status will be labeled with subsequent letters in the Greek alphabet.
09:25 (IST)
Coronavirus News Updates
Delhi govt asks women-care institutions to provide best medical consultation to residents
The Delhi government’s WCD department has advised women shelter homes and one-stop centres (OSCs) to provide the best medical consultation to their residents during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Department of Women and Child Development (WCD) is the nodal department for care, protection and empowerment of women as well as for efforts towards ending violence against them. The department has issued an advisory to the shelter homes in the city regarding crisis response to women during the current situation.
09:22 (IST)
Coronavirus News Updates
Jharkhand CM urges Narendra Modi to give free vaccine to all
In letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the ‘abysmal’ supply of COVID-19 jabs is foremost impediment to vaccination drive. He urged Modi to provide free vaccine for beneficiaries of all age groups and give freedom to define priorities for vaccination coverage
09:00 (IST)
Coronavirus News Updates
Four states extend COVID-19 rstrictions to curb spread
Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh on Monday extended COVID-induced lockdown or curfew though there will be some relaxation in curbs. Andhra Pradesh has decided to continue with curfew till 10 June, while the complete shutdown in Lakshadweep will remain till 7 June.
Almost all states and Union Territories have extended the curbs which they first started imposing in mid-April as the second COVID wave hit the country.
“In view of the corona outbreak, a decision has been taken to extend the lockdown by a week, till June 08. However, some extra concessions will be made for business activities,” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tweeted in Hindi.
Coronavirus Live News Updates: The COVID-19 recovery rate continues to increase, at 92.09 percent today, while the daily positivity rate dipped to 6.62 percent, and has been less than 10 percent for seven consecutive days.
Bihar, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh on Monday extended COVID-induced lockdown or curfew though there will be some relaxation in curbs.
Andhra Pradesh has decided to continue with curfew till 10 June, while the complete shutdown in Lakshadweep will remain till 7 June.
Almost all states and Union Territories have extended the curbs which they first started imposing in mid-April as the second COVID wave hit the country.
“In view of the corona outbreak, a decision has been taken to extend the lockdown by a week, till June 08. However, some extra concessions will be made for business activities,” Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar tweeted in Hindi.
As per the revised guidelines, which would come into effect from 2 June, shops dealing in essential items like grocery, vegetables, dairy products, meat and fish, will be allowed to do business from 6 am to 2 pm.
Similar relaxations have also been announced by other states. Shopping malls, cinema halls, gyms, stadiums, clubs and swimming pools will, however, remain closed.
Restrictions also remain on the number of people who could attend weddings and funerals.
The Chhattisgarh government said that the lockdown, which was scheduled to end on Monday, will continue with some relaxation in restrictions in those districts where the COVID-19 case positivity rate is less than five percent.
The Rajasthan government also issued guidelines on Monday to start the “unlock” process by easing certain restrictions from 2 June.
According to the guidelines for the modified lockdown, exemption for various activities will be given only in areas where the positivity rate is less than 10 percent or the use of oxygen, ICU and ventilator beds is less than 60 percent.
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Om Prakash said the COVID curfew has been extended in the state till 8 June. The period of the ongoing curfew in the state was scheduled to come to an end at 6 am on Tuesday morning.
The Lakshadweep administration announced the extension of the complete shutdown for seven more days, beginning 31 May.
The complete shutdown was first announced on May 24 for a week.
The Andhra Pradesh government decided to extend the COVID curfew till June 10, with the same set of restrictions.
The curfew, which was first clamped from May 5 as the coronavirus cases were on a steep upward spiral, was supposed to end on May 31.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government extended the relaxations announced in the coronavirus curfew to six more districts from June 1, allowing shops and markets outside the containment zones to open for five days a week.
The relaxations will apply to a total of 61 districts from Tuesday, while 14 districts with an active COVID-19 caseload of over 600 have been kept outside the purview of the order for the time being.
The 14 districts where there would be no relaxation in curbs are Meerut, Lucknow, Saharanpur, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar, Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Jhansi, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Jaunpur and Ghazipur, the spokesperson said.