With 12,885 people testing positive for coronavirus in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,43,21,025, while the active cases were recorded at 1,48,579, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
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 :
AstraZeneca pulls request for Swiss approval of COVID shot
AstraZeneca said on Thursday that it is withdrawing its application for approval of its COVID-19 vaccine in Switzerland because the country's medical regulator wanted to restrict its use to people over the age of 50.
Switzerland has cleared the BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for use. However, national medical regulator Swissmedic hadn't yet granted marketing authorization for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The British-Swedish pharmaceutical company said that, since it started rolling submissions for authorization in Switzerland in October 2020, it “has been in close communication with the regulator and has continuously provided the requested study results and other pertinent information and documents.” AstraZeneca said it has now “decided not to pursue the marketing authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine in Switzerland. This decision is based on Swissmedic's requirement to restrict the indication to people 50 years and above.” -AP
U.S. mandates vaccines or tests for big companies by January 4
Tens of millions of Americans who work at companies with 100 or more employees will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by January 4 or get tested for the virus weekly under the government rules issued on Thursday.
The new requirements, which were first previewed by President Joe Biden in September, will apply to about 84 million workers at medium and large businesses, although it is not clear how many of those employees are unvaccinated.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations will force the companies to require that unvaccinated workers test negative for COVID-19 at least once a week and wear a mask while in the workplace.
Moderna lowers forecast for 2021 COVID-19 vaccine deliveries
Moderna is scaling back expectations for the number of COVID-19 vaccine deliveries it expects to make this year and the revenue it will record from them.
The drugmaker said on Thursday that longer delivery lead times for exports and a temporary impact from expanding its fill-finish capacity may shift some deliveries to early 2022.
The company now expects full-year, 2021 product sales of between $15 billion and $18 billion.
That's down from a prediction for $20 billion in sales that it made in August.
UK authorises Merck’s anti-COVID pill
Britain has granted a conditional authorization to Merck's coronavirus antiviral, the first pill shown to successfully treat COVID-19. It is the first country to approve the treatment, although it was not immediately clear how quickly the pill would be available.
The pill was licensed for adults 18 and older who have tested positive for COVID-19 and have at least one risk factor for developing severe disease. The drug, known as molnupiravir, is intended to be taken twice a day for five days by people at home with mild to moderate COVID-19.
Singapore warns unvaccinated officials with unpaid leave
Singapore, concerned with a high level of daily COVID-19 cases and deaths, has warned that unvaccinated public officers will be placed on unpaid leave if they avoided the nation-wide vaccination exercise despite being medically eligible.
The city-state on Wednesday reported 3,635 new cases of COVID-19, including 409 residents from the dormitories for migrant workers, and 12 deaths due to complications from the disease.- PTI
Active COVID-19 cases in country lowest in 253 days
India saw a single-day rise of 12,885 new COVID-19 cases, taking the country's infection tally to 3,43,21,025, while the count of active cases has declined to 1,48,579, the lowest in 253 days, according to Union Health Ministry data on Thursday.
The death toll due to the disease has climbed to 4,59,652, with 461 daily fatalities being recorded, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.21% It has been less than two per cent for 31 days.
The cumulative number of vaccine doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 107.63 crore.- PTI
Centre flags rise in number of COVID-19 cases
The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday asked Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir to undertake a review of the rising COVID-19 case numbers and weekly positivity rates, and enhance testing.
In letters to the Himachal Pradesh Health Secretary, Andhra Pradesh Principal Secretary of Health and the Jammu and Kashmir Additional Chief Secretary of Health, Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary of the Union Health Ministry, highlighted the increase in number of weekly new COVID-19 cases since last week and early signs of rise in positivity rates last month.
Pakistan relaxes COVID-19 restrictions for incoming flights
Pakistan on Wednesday announced to further relax restrictions on the incoming flights by allowing them to operate at full capacity from next week.
It said in a statement that the “inbound Air Traffic will operate at full quantum with effect from November 10” as a downward trend has been witnessed in all COVID indicators across the globe owing to mass vaccination undertaken by various countries.
It said that nine countries including Armenia, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Iraq, Mexico, Mongolia, Slovenia, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago and Ukraine have been placed in Category C due to high positivity, high death rate and low vaccination.
Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Germany, Philippines and Afghanistan have been placed in high-risk for continuous monitoring in wake of high disease indicators but no travel restriction has been imposed on them- PTI
Calcutta HC allows conditional entry into pandals of Kali puja, others
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday allowed unrestricted entry into Kali Puja, Jagadhatri Puja and Kartick Puja pandals in West Bengal for visitors, provided each of them is double vaccinated and wears a mask.
The bench, however, cautioned that the expression in the order - “entry shall be unrestricted provided each visitor is doubly vaccinated and wears mask” - should not be treated as a blanket license to one and all to throng and overcrowd the puja pandal areas in particular and streets in general.- PTI
COMMents
SHARE