With 14,348 people testing positive for coronavirus in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,42,46,157, while the active cases were recorded at 1,61,334, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 4,57,191 with 805 fresh fatalities, including 708 from Kerala, according to the data updated at 8 a.m.
Kerala has been reconciling Covid deaths in the past few days, ministry officials said.
Here are the latest developments:
UK to remove all countries from its COVID travel ban red list
Beginning Monday, the UK will remove the remaining seven countries from its COVID-19 travel ban red list, which will be reviewed every three weeks and revised in case of emerging COVID variant threats, the British government has announced.
From 4am on Monday, the remaining seven destinations on the UK’s COVID-19 travel ban red list – Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Panama, Peru and Venezuela – will be removed, it said in an update on Thursday.
The red list itself has not been scrapped and will be reviewed every three weeks, with restrictions imposed in case of emerging COVID variant threats.
The Department for Transport (DfT) said that Delta is now the dominant COVID variant in most countries around the world, which means the risk of known variants entering the UK has reduced.
“This is another step in the right direction for international travel with more good news today for passengers, businesses and the travel sector,” said UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. - PTI
COVID-19 can be transmitted by fully vaccinated people at home: Lancet study
Fully vaccinated people can contract and pass on Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in household settings, but at lower rates than unvaccinated people, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
Researchers led by Imperial College London, UK, found that vaccinated people clear the infection more quickly, but the peak viral load among them is similar to that seen in unvaccinated individuals, which may explain why they can still readily pass on the virus at home.
The researchers noted that most COVID-19 transmission is known to occur in households yet there is limited data on the risk of transmission of the Delta variant from vaccinated people with asymptomatic or mild infections in the community. - PTI
Active COVID-19 cases in country increase to 1,61,334
With 14,348 people testing positive for coronavirus in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,42,46,157, while the active cases were recorded at 1,61,334, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 4,57,191 with 805 fresh fatalities, including 708 from Kerala, according to the data updated at 8 a.m.
The ministry said that daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 35 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 124 consecutive days now. - PTI
Australia's COVID-19 vaccination drive reaches Antarctica's frozen shores
COVID-19 vaccines have arrived at Australia's Casey research station in Antarctica, authorities said on Friday, allowing expeditioners to be inoculated before they journey back home to a country reopening to the world.
Pfizer Inc vaccines for 27 staff at Australia's Casey Station in Antarctica had arrived, Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley said on Friday. Vaccines will also be delivered to its Davis and Mawson research stations.
Australia has managed to keep its stations on the frozen continent free of the coronavirus, despite its arrival there last December when it became the last of the world's continents to report an outbreak. - Reuters
Ministry of Home Affairs extends COVID-19 guidelines till November 30
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the COVID-19 guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act till November 30.
The Ministry said in an order that the previous order issued on September 28, to ensure compliance with the “prompt and effective containment measures for COVID-19” will remain “in force up to October 31”.
The MHA asked States to take relevant action under various provisions of the Disaster Management Act for strict implementation of containment measures.
The earlier guidelines are applicable till October 31.
World faces shortage of syringes as COVID vaccine doses rise
African health officials and the United Nations are warning of a looming shortage of up to 2 billion syringes for mainly low and middle income countries around the world as the supply of COVID-19 doses rises, and routine vaccinations could be affected, too.
The U.N. children’s agency said that the shortfall would affect up to 2.2 billion auto-disposable syringes that lock automatically to prevent them from being used again.
“We are not anticipating a significant supply shortage of the more standard syringes used in high-income countries,” the agency said in a statement. - AP
Half the eligible population of Kerala fully vaccinated: Kerala Health Minister
Over half of the population in the State (50.02%) eligible for COVID-19 vaccination have been fully vaccinated, Health Minister Veena George said in a statement here on Thursday.
She said it was an important milestone for the State, when the fight against COVID-19 was still on. The proportion who has received at least one dose of the vaccine has crossed 94% (94.58%), which is much higher than the national average. At the national-level, the coverage of first dose has reached 77.37% and that of both doses, 33.99%.
The vaccination in the State is nearing target and in three districts — Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad — the proportion of the fully vaccinated has reached almost 100%, with very few left to take the first dose.
Doctors unsure if COVID situation in Kolkata can turn serious
The medical fraternity is Kolkata appears to be still undecided whether the recently concluded Durga Puja festivities have trigged a situation that could build up to a crisis, considering that the number of COVID-19 are on the rise in the city.
But the general opinion is that another wave of the pandemic is unlikely because any explosion in the number of cases should have been evident by now, considering it is now almost two weeks since the last day of puja.
It’s a confusing situation indeed. While many travellers from abroad who’ve included Kolkata in their itinerary during their proposed visit to India in the coming months have put their plans on hold for the moment, schools and colleges in West Bengal are set to reopen from November 15.
Less deaths during pandemic year in Delhi
The number of deaths and births in Delhi fell during 2020, when COVID-19 hit the Capital, as compared to 2019, says the ‘Annual Report on Registration of Births & Deaths in Delhi-2020’ of the city Government.
A total of 1,42,789 deaths were registered in the city in 2020 as compared to 1,45,284 in 2019. The total number of births registered during 2020 was 3,01,645 as against 3,65,868 in 2019.
The ‘Sex Ratio at Birth’ has increased to 933 females per thousand males in 2020 from 920 in 2019. The Infant Mortality Rate, the number of infant deaths per thousand live births, fell to 20.37 in 2020 from 24.12 a year ago, says the report.
97% of surveyed people have antibodies against COVID-19 in Delhi
As many as 97% of the 28,000 people, whose blood samples were collected in September from across the city, have developed antibodies against COVID-19, according to authorities.
Blood samples of random people of different age groups were collected as part of a serological survey to check how many of them had developed antibodies against the virus.
“The survey was done in 280 wards of Delhi. At least 100 samples from each ward were collected. The government collected 28,000 samples of random people. Sero prevalence was higher in women [90.1%] as compared to men with only [88.2%] positivity. Serosurvey was conducted in all the 11 districts of the national capital and the data showed that 97% of people had antibodies against COVID-19,” Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.
