Of the three COVID-19 vaccines available to eligible Indian adult population Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories’ COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V has managed to contribute only a minuscule percentage to India’s on-going COVID vaccination programme as per data on government’s CoWin platform.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here . A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the updates :
Schools to reopen in West Bengal from February 3
The West Bengal government has decided to reopen schools and educational institutions in the State from February 3. All government and private offices can operate with 75% work force. Cinema halls and theaters can operate with 75 % seating capacity.
No word on re-opening of schools in Odisha despite dip in infections
Despite a dip in the infections reported daily and the positivity rate, the Odisha government on Monday preferred not to lift the COVID-19 curbs for February.
The government has mostly kept the guidelines unchanged and there has, however, been no word on re-opening of schools.
All government offices, public undertakings and autonomous institutions will operate with 100% staff strength in February instead of 50% attendance prescribed in January.
Japan starts mass COVID boosters as Omicron cases soar
Tokyo has launched a mass inoculation drive for COVID-19 booster shots at a temporary center operated by the military as Japan tries to speed up delayed third jabs to counter surging infections.
Japan began administering booster shots to medical workers in December, but has only provided such inoculations to 2.7% of the population after delaying a decision to cut the interval between the first two coronavirus shots and a booster to six months from the initial eight.- AP
Legal action starts as Ravi Kishan flouts poll code, COVID norms during U.P. poll campaign
Legal action has been initiated against BJP MP and actor Ravi Kishan for violation of the model code of conduct and flouting COVID-19 norms during a campaign here for the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, police officials said.
While the Election Commission (EC) had banned physical rallies and allowed only door to door campaigns in view of the pandemic, a large number of people had turned up at Kishan's programme at Chotpur village against the permitted limit of 10 people.
Videos of the programme also surfaced on social media, purportedly showing the gross violations.- PTI
Spotify says it will add content advisory to podcasts that discuss COVID
Spotify Technology SA will add a "content advisory" to any podcast episode that includes discussion about COVID-19, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek said, after coming under fire from rock and folk legends for giving voice to misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
"This new effort to combat misinformation will roll out to countries around the world in the coming days," Ek wrote in a blog post published Sunday. "To our knowledge, this content advisory is the first of its kind by a major podcast platform."
India reports over 2.09 lakh Covid cases, 959 fatalities
With 2,09,918 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of cases increased to over 4.13 crore, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The death toll has climbed to 4,95,050 with 959 fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The active cases decreased by 53,669 to reach 18,31,268 and comprise 4.43% of the total infections, while the country's recovery rate stands at 94.37%, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 15.77%, while the weekly positivity rate was 15.75%, it said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease increased to 3,89,76,122, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.20%, the ministry said After the Sunday update, the total number of infections stands at 4,13,02,440, it said. Meanwhile, the cumulative number of anti-Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has crossed 166.03 crore. -PTI
Cold, cough and fever? Many shunning COVID-19 tests
An increasing number of people experiencing flu-like symptoms are isolating themselves at home, distorting the actual rate of infection.
This trend is distorting the actual rate of infection, say civic officials who are also grappling with unreported positives among those using self-test kits at home. The mechanism put in place to track buyers does not appear to be in place.
Seven-hour relaxation in 64-hour weekend lockdown announced in J-K
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday announced a seven-hour relaxation in the restriction on non-essential movement amid concerns raised by traders over the 64-hour long weekend Covid lockdown hampering their businesses.
A fortnight ago, the administration had imposed complete a restriction on non-essential movement from Fridays 2 pm to Mondays 6 am to rein in the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Traders of Jammu and Srinagar had sought a review of the weekend restrictions, stating they have already suffered huge economic losses owing to the outbreak of the pandemic. -PTI
