India reported on Thursday the highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 in the world, at 6,148, after Bihar revised its figures to account for people who succumbed to the disease at home or in private hospitals.
The health department of Bihar revised its total COVID-19 related death toll on Wednesday to more than 9,300 from about 5,400. In comparison, the United States had recorded 5,444 COVID-19 deaths on February 12.
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Here are the latest updates :
Coronavirus | States told to focus on second dose for healthcare, frontline workers
States have been advised to focus on the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination coverage among healthcare and frontline workers.
A release issued by the Health Ministry said Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday and informed States and Union Territories of the modifications in CoWIN platform, aimed at making it more effective as a back-end management tool for the countrywide vaccination drive.
- Special Correspondent
Coronavirus | Centre advices States, U.T.s to obtain permission before sharing data on vaccine stocks
The Central government has advised the States and Union Territories to obtain the Health Ministry’s permission before sharing the eVIN data related to vaccine stocks and the temperature at which they are stored. This, it said, was solely to prevent any misuse of this data by various agencies for commercial purpose.
eVIN is used by the Ministry for inventory management of vaccines and tracking storage temperature data of vaccines under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP).
- Special Correspondent
Paytm, MakeMyTrip, Infosys offer to help India with vaccine bookings
Paytm, Infosys and MakeMyTrip are among companies seeking approval in India to provide online COVID-19 vaccine bookings, the head of the government's tech platform said, as the country tries to make it easier for its huge population to book shots.
New low-cost sensor to detect COVID-19 in wastewater
U.K. and Indian scientists have jointly developed a low-cost sensor that can detect fragments of the virus responsible for COVID-19 within wastewater, paving the way for health officials to get a better understanding of how prevalent the disease is in a larger area.
The technique, developed by researchers from the University of Strathclyde and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, could be used to enable widespread monitoring of COVID-19 prevalence in low- and middle-income countries which struggle to conduct mass human testing.
Hong Kong opens vaccine drive to children aged 12 and older
Hong Kong will allow children age 12 and above to receive the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine as it seeks to boost immunisation rates in the city.
Government officials said on June 10 they will offer the vaccine to about 2,40,000 children from 12 to 15 years old starting June 11, joining other countries that have started vaccinating children.
Medical experts recommend lockdown extension in T.N.
Medical experts have advised the Tamil Nadu government to extend the COVID-19 lockdown in the State by another week. The current lockdown is due to end on the morning of June 14.
India will receive a share of 80 million U.S. vaccines through COVAX: State Dept. official
India will be receiving a share of the 80 million (8 crores) unused COVID-19 vaccines through the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing programme that President Joe Biden has announced, according to a senior State Department official.
On June 2, President Biden announced that the U.S. will allocate 75% — nearly 1.9 crores of the first tranche of 2.5 crore doses — of unused COVID-19 vaccines from its stockpile through the U.N.-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing programme to countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Africa.
The move is part of his administration's framework for sharing 80 million (8 crores) vaccines globally by the end of June.
Conduct audit of deaths during second wave of COVID-19: Uttarakhand HC to state govt
The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the state government to conduct an audit of the deaths that occurred during the second wave of coronavirus in the state, and also explore the possibility of carrying out door-to-door vaccination in remote hill areas.
Hearing petitions related to the state's handling of the pandemic, Chief Justice R.S. Chauhan and Justice Alok Verma asked the state government on Wednesday if a district-level task force can be constituted with the help of the social welfare department to cater to people who are unable to get their immunisation due to lack of ID cards.
Asking the state government to explore the possibility of creating a system that reaches out to people in the remote hill areas on priority, the high court suggested setting up a panel of ASHA volunteers, home guards and nurses to carry out a door-to-door survey to ensure that the "dispersed" population in such areas is vaccinated. - PTI
Jharkhand tops in vaccine wastage; Kerala, West Bengal report negative wastage
Kerala and West Bengal recorded negative wastage of COVID-19 vaccines in May, saving 1.10 lakh and 1.61 lakh doses respectively, while Jharkhand reported maximum wastage of 33.95%, according to government data.
While Kerala reported 6.37% vaccine wastage, West Bengal recorded 5.48%.
Chhattisgarh reported 15.79% vaccine wastage while Madhya Pradesh reported 7.35%.
COVID-19 toll in Bihar jumps by 72% after recount
Following a recent direction by the Patna High Court, the Bihar government recounted its COVID-19 toll, which has jumped by a whopping 72.84%.
On June 7, the official toll figure in the State was 5,424 but on June 8, the government said the figure had gone up to 9,375 after it recounted deaths in all 38 districts.
A Division Bench of the Patna High Court had in May slammed the Bihar government and expressed concern over inconsistencies in the toll in Buxar district, presented by two top government officials in two separate affidavits. The court had asked the government to verify all facts before placing them on record.
“All facts must be verified from all sources and then only be placed before us, else it will amount to filing of false or incomplete affidavit”, Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S. Kumar told the government.
Jharkhand extends lockdown-like restrictions till June 17
The Jharkhand government on Wednesday extended COVID-related lockdown-like restrictions till June 17 with some relaxations, including expanding time of opening of shops across the state by two hours till 4 pm, an official said.
Inter-state and Intra-state bus transport shall be prohibited except for the buses specifically used by the district administration till June 17 morning, as per the notification in this regard.
E-passes will be mandatory for inter-state and inter- district movement in private vehicles but for movement within the district, no e-passes will be required. - PTI