The list of EU Member States that have recognised Covishield as a valid vaccine includes Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Spain. That apart, Estonia has confirmd that it will recognise all the vaccines authorised by Government of India for travel of Indians to Estonia, said an informed source.
Switzerland, not a EU member, too allows Covishield as Schengen state.
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 latest updates :
Pregnant women in India now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination
Pregnant women in India are now eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with the union Health Ministry on Friday giving the approval based on recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI).
The decision empowers pregnant women to make an informed choice on taking the Covid vaccination, the ministry said, adding these women can now register on CoWIN or walk-in to the nearest Covid vaccination centre to get themselves inoculated. The decision has been communicated to all the States and union territories to implement it under the ongoing National Covid Vaccination Program, it said in a statement.
- PTI
UP govt allows opening of gymnasiums, multiplexes from Monday
Further easing the coronavirus curbs, the Uttar Pradesh government has allowed the opening of gymnasiums, cinema halls, multiplexes and sports stadiums at 50% of their capacity from Monday.
Under the new guidelines, which will come into effect from 7 am on July 5, all gymnasiums, cinema halls, multiplexes and sports stadiums will be allowed to open between 7 am and 9 pm five days a week with strict compliance of Covid-19-appropriate behaviour, a spokesman said.
The gyms in containment zones will remain closed.
The CM directed the installation of posters or banners telling about preventive measures at all public places, the spokesman said.
The CM also instructed to set up helpdesks close to public places to ensure the compliance of the coronavirus protocol, the spokesman added.
- PTI
Second wave not over yet: V.K. Paul
Niti Aayog Member - Health, Dr. V.K. Paul, said the second wave is not over yet even though India is seeing decline in the number of fresh cases.
In Europe, it looks like the virus is on the rise again. In the UK it had gone down to 100 per million and now is 375.
Israel, which had zero cases, now has 300, he said.
A recent study from PGI Chandigarh in police personnel, shows that vaccine efficacy in those with a single dose was 92% and with two doses 98% protection from death. This establishes the effectiveness of vaccines.
The projection, that 216 crore doses would be available, from August-December was an optimistic, aspirational projection based on what our manufacturers had told us, says VK Paul.
National recovery rate crosses 97%
India saw a single-day rise of 46,617 new coronavirus infections, taking the tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,04,58,251, while the national recovery rate has crossed 97 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,00,312 with 853 daily fatalities.
Over 34 crore vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive so far, it said.
The active cases have further declined to 5,09,637, comprising 1.67 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 97.01 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. A net decline of 13,620 cases has been recorded in the total number of active COVID-19 cases in a span of 24 hours.
Also, 18,80,026 tests were conducted on Thursday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 41,42,51,520, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.48 per cent. It has been less than five per cent for 25 consecutive days, the ministry said.
Weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.57 per cent, according to the health ministry.
Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for 50th consecutive days. — PTI
Australia further curbs new arrivals
Australia plans to halve commercial passenger arrivals due to virus risks as parts of the country emerged from lockdowns on Friday, July 2, 2021.
Australia will reduce its cap on arrivals from 6,000 passengers a week to 3,000 by July 14 to reduce pressure on hotel quarantine, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said after a meeting with state and territory leaders.
Australia already has some of the world's tightest border restrictions aimed at keeping COVID-19 out of the country. The new restrictions add to obstacles faced by 34,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents stranded overseas and registered with the government as wanting to come home.
The government will charter more airliners to repatriate Australians, but the reduced limit on commercial passenger arrivals could continue until next year.
“If medical advice changes between now and then, if medical advice suggests that we can alter that, then of course the National Cabinet has always been receptive to that advice and we'll continue to monitor that,” Morrison told reporters, referring to his decision-making meetings with the state and territory leaders.
“We wouldn't want to keep those caps in place any longer than we had to,” he added. — AP
Another fake vaccination case in Mumbai
Mumbai police on Thursday, July 1, 2021, registered a new First Information Report against eight persons for holding fake COVID-19 vaccination camps for a private firm, an official said.
This is the 10th FIR registered in Mumbai after a racket which held bogus or unauthorized vaccination camps for housing societies and private firms came to light last month.
DCGI seeks Russian Sputnik Light trial data
A Subject Expert Committee that advises the Drugs Controller General of India has asked Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to submit data from Phase III clinical trial of Sputnik Light being carried out in Russia for grant of Marketing Authorisation (MA) of the single dose vaccine against COVID-19.
The panel said this observing that there was no need for a separate Phase III trial of Sputnik Light in India since the safety and immunogenicity data has been generated during the two-dose Sputnik V trial in India. Sputnik Light is the first component of Sputnik V and its efficacy is said to be 79.4%.
Re-employment still a challenge for those who lost jobs in first wave
As many as 40% of people who had lost their jobs over April or May 2020 after the COVID-19 pandemic hit India, had been unable to find a paying job even ten months after the national lockdown began, with the problem most acute for younger workers in urban India, as per a new survey-based report.
On an average, people who lost their jobs remained unemployed for six months and this worrying trend of prolonged unemployment was playing out even before the second wave of the pandemic, according to the report informed by a survey of nearly 4,800 individuals across 150 urban ward clusters in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Pandemic increased vulnerability to human trafficking: U.S. report
The pandemic resulted in an increase in vulnerability to human trafficking and interrupted existing anti-traffic efforts, according to the Trafficking in Persons report, an annual study released by the U.S. State Department. The U.S. has determined that governments of twelve countries, including China, had a policy of trafficking in the reporting period (year ending March 31). On India, the report says that while it did not meet the minimum standards to eliminate trafficking, the government was making significant efforts, although these were inadequate, especially when it came to bonded labour.
Anti-diabetic drug promises therapeutic solution to COVID-19
An anti-diabetic drug ‘Ertugliflozin’ might provide a therapeutic solution to the COVID-19 infection as a repurposed drug. This is following ‘in-vitro’ and ‘in-silico’ studies done by the ASPIRE-BioNEST, a life sciences incubator jointly funded by Department of Biotechnology and University of Hyderabad (UoH), ReaGene Innovations and INDRAS Private Limited.
The findings announced here on Thursday indicate that this repurposed drug not only binds effectively to the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein of COVID-19 but also displays significant anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic properties in a 3D human vascular lung model, both of which are fundamentals in COVID-19 infection, said an official press release.
Mentor system for students who do not have gadgets, internet facility
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has devised an ambitious plan for students who do not have access to either gadgets or internet connectivity and cannot attend online classes, one that will involve both parents and teachers.
The goal is to ensure that children who are at a disadvantage are mentored constantly by their teachers. Parents will have to meet with their children’s teachers at least once every fortnight to discuss learning outcomes.
( With inputs from our Correspondents and agencies )
