09:56 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
India’s COVID-19 recoveries over 1.56 crore
The total number of people who recuperated from the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours rose to 2,99,988 on Saturday, said the health ministry. With this, the total number of COVID-19 recoveries surged over 1.56 crore.
The national COVID-19 recovery rate is currently at 81.83 percent.
09:48 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
3,523 COVID-19 deaths in India in a day
With the death of 3,523 more COVID-19 patients in the past 24 hours, the total number of fatalities in the country climbed to 2,11,853 on Saturday, said the Union health ministry. This takes the national fatality rate to 1.1 percent.
09:47 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
More than 4 lakh COVID-19 cases in India, biggest spike in 24 hours
India registered 4,01,993 fresh COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, taking the overall tally to more than 1.91 crore on Saturday, said the Union health ministry.
09:28 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
Delhi won’t begin third phase of inoculation drive today
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday asked the people between the age group of 18 and 44 not to queue up outside COVID-19 vaccination centres from 1 May (Saturday), adding the National Capital hasn’t yet received doses. He said around 0.3 million doses of Covishield are expected by 3 May.
Kejriwal said his government has placed orders for 6.7 million doses each of Covishield and Covaxin which will be delivered over three months. “We aim to vaccinate everyone in the next three months if a sufficient quantity of vaccines is supplied by the companies,” he added.
09:03 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
Gujarat govt to provide Rs 4 lakh each to kin of victims of Bharuch hospital fire
I express my condolences to the patients, doctors and hospital staff who lost their lives in the fire accident at Bharuch Hospital. The state government will provide assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the families of each of the victims of the accident, said Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on Saturday.
08:58 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
At least 17 states, UTs to miss phase 3 vaccination launch today
A whopping 17 states and Union Territories have expressed doubts over their ability to launch the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination, set to begin today (Saturday, 1 May), for people between the ages of 18 and 45.
These states include Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. In other states like Uttar Pradesh, the government said that the third phase of the nationwide vaccination drive will be launched only in certain districts.
This is even as India saw 3,86,452 new coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,87,62,976.
08:50 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
Joe Biden restricts travel to US from India
US President Joe Biden on Friday issued a proclamation, restricting travel to the United States of all non-citizens who have stayed in India in the past 14 days.
The proclamation, which comes into effect on 4 May, has been issued due to the “extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in India”.
US nationals, those on Green Cards, their non-citizen spouses and children below 21 years of age, are among the various categories exempted from the restrictions.
The new travel restrictions have been imposed for an indefinite period and will require another presidential proclamation to end it.
08:41 (IST)
Coronavirus LATEST Updates
Gujarat hospital fire kills 18 COVID-19 patients
At least 18 coronavirus patients died after a fire broke out at a hospital in Gujarat’s Bharuch in the early hours on Saturday.
Gut-wrenching visuals of the tragedy showed remains of some patients burned alive on stretchers and beds.
There were around 50 other patients at the four-storeyed Welfare Hospital when the fire broke out in the COVID-19 ward at 1 am. They were rescued by locals and firefighters, an official said.
Coronavirus LATEST Updates: With the death of 3,523 more COVID-19 patients in the past 24 hours, the total number of fatalities in the country climbed to 2,11,853 on Saturday, said the Union health ministry. This takes the national fatality rate to 1.1 percent.
Several state governments have said they won’t be able to start the Phase 3 vaccination drive from Saturday because they do not have sufficient doses. This phase of vaccination drive is for people between the age group of 18-45 years.
A fire in a COVID-19 hospital ward in Gujarat’s Bharuch killed 18 patients early Saturday, as the country grappling with the worst outbreak yet steps up a vaccination drive for all its adults even though some states say don’t have enough jabs.
Fifty other patients at the Welfare Hospital in Bharuch, a town in Gujarat state, were rescued by hospital workers and firefighters, said police officer Rajendrasinh Chudasama.
The fire broke out in a COVID-19 ward on the ground floor and was extinguished within an hour, PTI quoted the fire service as saying. The cause of the fire is being investigated.
On 23 April, a fire in an intensive care unit killed 13 COVID-19 patients in the Virar area on the outskirts of Mumbai.
Faced with an unprecedented surge in cases that has filled hospitals and crematoriums, creating a major crisis in a country of 1.4 billion, the government on Saturday shifted its faltering vaccination campaign into high gear by saying all adults 18 and over were getting their shots.
Since January, nearly 10 percent of Indians have received one dose, but only around 1.5% have received both, though India is one of the world’s biggest producers of vaccines.
Some states already said they do not have enough doses for everyone. Even the ongoing effort to inoculate people above 45 is stuttering.
The state of Maharashtra has said it won’t be able to start on Saturday. Satyender Jain, the Delhi health minister, said earlier this week that the city doesn’t have enough doses to vaccinate people between 18 and 44.
India on Friday reported another global daily record of 386,452 new cases, pushing the overall toll to more than 18.7 million since the pandemic began, second only to the United States. The Health Ministry also reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts believe both figures are an undercount.
The US meanwhile joined a growing list of countries restricting travel from India, the White House said, citing a devastating rise in COVID-19 cases and the emergence of potentially dangerous variants of the coronavirus.
President Joe Biden spoke Monday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the growing health crisis and pledged to immediately send assistance. This week, the US began delivering therapeutics, rapid virus tests and oxygen to India, along with some materials needed for India to boost its domestic production of COVID-19 vaccines.
Additionally, a CDC team of public health experts was expected to be on the ground soon to help Indian health officials move to slow the spread of the virus.
Other nations have also sent assistance, and the Indian air force airlifted oxygen containers from Singapore, Dubai and Bangkok.