U.S.-biotech firm Moderna Inc is likely to price its coronavirus vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, according to a Financial Times report. Moderna's proposed price would apply to the United States and other high-income countries.
In India, Serum Institute of India chairman Cyrus Poonawalla has said that SII, which has partnered with vaccine developers Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is aiming to sell the vaccine for under ₹1,000 per dose in India.
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:
Maharashtra lockdown extended till August 31
Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced to extend the lockdown till the midnight of August 31. As per the new guidelines under the State government's Mission Begin Again, malls and complexes are now allowed to remain open from August 5 between 9 AM to 7 PM without theatres, food courts or restaurants across the municipal corporations in the State, including those in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
Along with this, the new guidelines mention that outdoor non team sports like Golf courses, outdoor firing range, outdoor gymnastics, tennis, outdoor badminton and malkhamb, will be allowed with physical distancing and sanitation measures with effective from August 5. However swimming pools are yet not allowed to open.
- Alok Deshpande
West Bengal reports 41 deaths
West Bengal observed a near total lockdown on Wednesday as the State recorded 41 deaths due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. taking the toll to 1,490.
Kolkata recorded 17 of the 41 deaths, followed by nine deaths in North 24 Parganas, five in South 24 Parganas and four in Howrah. The number of new infections was 2,294 which took the tally to 65,258. The active cases stood at 19,652. Meanwhile, 2,094 persons were released from health facilities in the day taking the total released to 44,116. The discharge rate stood at 67.60%. The number of samples tested for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours was 17,114.
- Shiv Sahay Singh
Tocilizumab fails to address COVID-19 pneumonia
Tocilizumab, a drug that was recommended by the Indian Council for Medical Research ( ICMR) for emergency use in coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) patients, has been found to be ineffective in reducing the associated pneumonia, according to a press release issued by its promoters.
Though unproven, a rise in cases and mortality translated into a global scamper for the drug. There was high demand for it in India too with stocks running out at pharmacists and reports that it was being blackmarketed for as much as ₹1.5 lakh a dose.
Tripura extends lockdown till August 4
The Tripura government has extended the ongoing lockdown for another week as coronavirus cases continued to register a surge in the State. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb announced the decision on Wednesday evening and said the measure was needed to check the spread of infections and complete an ongoing door-to-door health survey.
The Chief Minister regretted that residents of some interior localities prevented health teams from conducting the survey and to perform spot tests on people with Covid-19 symptoms. Calling such disruptions ‘unfortunate’, Mr Deb urged upon people to cooperate with the survey.
“You have now one more week for check-up at your home premises. If you don’t come forward to join the survey, you will be at a loss if you are already exposed to the ailment”, Chief Minister .
- Syed Sajjad Ali
Maharashtra reports 9,211 new cases
Maharashtra reported a big surge of 9,211 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday as the State's total case tally crossed the 4 lakh mark to reach 4,00,651. A proportionately high fatality spike of 298 deaths saw the total death toll rise to 14,463.
However, the active case tally had come down to 1,46,129, said State Health Department officials. With 7,478 patients discharged today, the cumulative recoveries till date has risen to 2,39,755.
Pune district reported another massive surge of more than 2,500 new cases and 60 deaths as its total case tally surged to 82,916 while its death toll reached 1,945. With 1,109 new cases reported today, Mumbai's total case tally reached has 1,11,991 of whom only 20,123 are active though.
With 60 new deaths reported today, the city's death toll has risen to 6,247. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) saw a sharp spike in fatalities as well, with Thane district reporting 26 deaths and the Kalyan-Dombivli civic body reporting 15 while Aurangabad district in Marathwada reported 17 deaths.
- Shoumojit Banerjee
M.P. reports 917 new cases
Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday recorded 917 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 30,134. The number of active cases stands at 8,356.
Fourteen patients died of the illness on the day, taking the State-wide death toll to 844. As for recoveries, 591 patients were discharged from hospitals on the day. So far, 20,934 persons have been cured of the illness, says the State Directorate of Health Services.
- Sidharth Yadav
Guidelines for Unlock 3 announced, gyms and yoga institutes can function from August 5
The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday announced its guidelines for 'Unlock 3':
Restrictions on movement of individuals during night (Night curfew) have been removed.
Lockdown shall continue to be implemented strictly in the Containment Zones till 31 August, 2020.
Yoga institutes and gymnasiums will be allowed to open from August 5, 2020. In this regard, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) will be issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) for ensuring social distancing and to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Independence Day functions will be allowed with social distancing and by following other health protocols, e.g., wearing of masks etc. In this regard instructions issued by MHA on 21.07.2020 shall be followed.
After extensive consultation with States and UTs, it has been decided that schools, colleges and coaching institutions will remain closed till August 31, 2020
The following activities remain prohibited:
Metro Rail.
Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly halls and similar places.
Social/ political/ sports/ entertainment/ academic/ cultural/ religious functions and other large congregations.
- Vijaita Singh
T.N. reports 6426 new cases
6426 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, 5927 persons were discharged and there were 82 deaths. The total positive is 2,34,114, the tota l discharged is 1,72,883 and the deth toll is 3741 and the active cases stand at 57,490.
Delhi reports 1035 new cases
1,035 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,33,310, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Wednesday. Also, 26 more deaths have been reported, taking the total number of deaths to 3,907.
Of the total cases, 1,18,633 people have recovered and there are 10,770 active cases.
- Delhi Bureau
India reports over 1 million recoveries from COVID-19
India on Wednesday evening reported over 1 million recoveries from COVID-19.
At the time of publishing, the total recoveries stood at 1,00,2290, and the cumulative positive cases at 15,61,634. The death toll has increased to 34,534 and the active cases stood at 5,24,810.
A.P. reports over 10,000 new cases in a single day
Andhra Pradesh reported its highest ever positive tally in a day, recording 10,093 cases on Wednesday. The total positive cases has jumped to 1,20, 390. There were also 2784 discharges and 65 deaths today. The death toll is now 1213 and the total discharges at 55,406.
- AP Bureau
Moderna’s vaccine shows protection from COVID-19 in monkey study
US biotechnology company Moderna’s experimental vaccine to prevent COVID-19 induced robust immune responses and rapidly controlled the novel coronavirus in the upper and lower airways of monkeys exposed to SARS-CoV-2, according to a study.
The candidate vaccine, mRNA-1273, has been co-developed by scientists at Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in the US.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, complements recently reported interim results from an NIAID-sponsored Phase 1 clinical trial of mRNA-1273.
- PTI
COVID-19 fatality rate declining progressively, total recoveries 9.88 lakh: Health ministry
The total number of recoveries from COVID-19 is fast approaching the 10-lakh mark, while the case fatality rate has been falling progressively due to coordinated implementation of the ‘test track treat’ strategy by the Centre, States and Union Territories, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
India’s COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR) is lower than what it is globally. On Wednesday, the CFR stood at 2.23%, the lowest since April 1, the Health Ministry said in a statement.
“Not only has the CFR been kept low, but successful implementation of effective containment strategy, aggressive testing and standardised clinical management protocols based on a holistic standard of care approach have in tandem resulted in a consistent trend of more than 30,000 recoveries per day for the sixth consecutive day,” it said.
- PTI
Complete lockdown on weekends in Andaman and Nicobar Islands
The Andaman and Nicobar administration has decided to impose a complete lockdown on weekends beginning August 1 to contain the spread of coronavirus, an official said on Wednesday.
The strict restrictions will be in force on Saturdays and Sundays till the COVID-19 situation improves in the Union Territory, Chief Secretary,Chetan B Sanghi, said in an order issued on Tuesday.
All commercial establishments, shops, transport, barring those dealing with essential commodities and services, will remain shut, the order said.
Meanwhile, twenty-five more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, taking the Union Territory’s tally to 363, according to a health bulletin.
- PTI
Cashless medical treatment for poll officials who get COVID-19
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the States to make arrangements for cashless medical treatment and special quarantine facilities for security forces who may contract COVID-19 while on election duty.
The ECI has also decided that a compensation of ₹30 lakh would be given to the families of the security and polling personnel who die of COVID-19 while on election duty. So far, the ex-gratia compensation has been in place for security personnel killed in violent attacks while on poll duty.
The ECI’s instructions come at a time when poll authorities and political parties are trying to figure out the modalities of elections during the pandemic, ahead of the Bihar Assembly polls later this year
Sudanese national who tested positive booked
40-year-old Sudan national staying in a Mumbai hotel has become untraceable after testing positive for coronavirus, the police said on Wednesday.
During the COVID-19 test, he had mentioned a hotel in Colaba as his residential address in the metropolis, an official said.
When health officials reached the hotel, they found he was not available.
A case has been registered by Colaba police against the Sudanese as well as the owner of the hotel, he said.
Two Ministers test positive for COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh
Another two Ministers in the Madhya Pradesh government have tested positive for COVID-19, days after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was confirmed as having contracted the disease.
While Water Resources Minister Tulsi Ram Silawat announced his test result on Twitter on Tuesday night, Bhopal district authorities on Wednesday said Minister of State for Panchayat and Rural Development Ramkhelawan Patel had tested positive too. Further, it said BJP State General Secretary (Organisation) Suhas Bhagat and party Organisation Secretary, Gwalior and Bhopal Division, Ashutosh Tiwari had also tested positive. - Sidharth Yadav
Govt relaxes norms for employees who could not join office during lockdown
The central government has relaxed norms for its employees who were either on leave or on an official tour and could not join office due to non-availability of public transport during the coronavirus lockdown, according to a Personnel Ministry order.
The move comes in the wake of the government receiving several references and queries from the employees who proceeded on leave with necessary permission, but could not report for duty due to travel restrictions.
Fresh cases in Puducherry
Puducherry a new high of 166 new COVID-19 admissions on Wednesday.
While Puducherry accounted for 154 cases, the remaining 12 were reported in Karaikal. Another 143 patients are in home isolation.
The new cases were confirmed from testing 837 samples representing a positivity rate of 19.8 per cent.
The tally is 47 deaths, 1,112 active cases, a cumulative total of 3,171 cases and 1,869 patients discharged. - Dinesh Verma
ADB approves $3 million grant to India to combat COVID-19
Multilateral funding agency ADB on Wednesday said it has approved $3 million (about ₹22 crore) grant to India from its Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund to further support the government’s emergency response to COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant, which is financed by the Japanese government, will be used to procure thermal scanners and essential commodities to strengthen the India’s COVID-19 response, Asian Development Bank (ADB) said in a statement.
Smokers likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19, warns Health Ministry
Smokers are likely to be more vulnerable to COVID-19 as the act of smoking means that fingers (and possibly contaminated cigarettes) are in contact with lips, which increases the possibility of transmission of virus from hand to mouth, warned the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.
A senior health official at the Ministry said that they had inputs from experts who “confirmed that smokers are more likely to develop severe symptoms or die from COVID-19, as it primarily attacks the lungs.”
COVID-19 robs rakhi celebrations from UP jail inmates
This rakshabandhan, prisoners in Uttar Pradesh jails will not be allowed to meet their siblings. Jail authorities in Uttar Pradesh have banned inmates from meeting their relatives on rakshabandhan in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said on Wednesday.
The relatives of the inmates can send rakhis for them to the jail counter before or on August 1, District Jail Superintendent AK Saxena said.
All the rakhis will be sanitised before being given to the inmates as a precautionary measure.
Kejriwal announces delinking of hotels from hospitals as Delhi’s COVID-19 situation improves
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced delinking of hotels from hospitals in view of the improving COVID-19 situation in the national capital.
All beds in such hotels, which were recently attached to hospitals, were lying vacant for the last many days.
Three hotels in south west Delhi were earlier this month delinked from their respective hospitals due to low occupancy. But the decision was reversed by the district authorities within a day.
Lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram extended
The district administration has extended the ongoing lockdown in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation limit until further orders. There are, however, a number of relaxations to the existing restrictions.
In one of the major relaxations, hotels and restaurants have been allowed to function for parcel services from take-away counters. No in-house dining is permitted. Home delivery is permitted in non-containment zone.
All shops could remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., adhering to COVID-19 protocols. All shops have to keep a time slot from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. dedicated only to senior citizens.
Public transport including taxis and autorickshaws have been allowed with 50% carriage capacity in non-containment zones.
Transportation inside, outside and through Corporation is permitted in non-containment wards. However, only transit will be allowed through containment wards.
Manipur reports first COVID-19 death
Manipur reported its first COVID-19 death as a 56-year-old man succumbed to the disease at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS).
This is the first COVID-19 death in the state, Director of RIMS, Ahanthem Santa Singh said.
The deceased, a resident of Khongjom Sapam village in Thoubal district was admitted to the institute on May 22 for the treatment of serious kidney problem and hypertension. The patient tested COVID-19 positive on Sunday and died in the early hours of Wednesday.
TN Governor on 7-day isolation
Banwarilal Purohit
Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit has gone into seven-day isolation as a precautionary measure after three people in Raj Bhavan tested positive for COVID-19.
The Governor is "fit and healthy", a Raj Bhavan press release said. - Dennis R. Jesudasan
Licence for stocking and sale of hand sanitiser no longer required: govt.
The Union Health Ministry has done away with the requirement of a licence for stocking and sale of hand sanitiser to make it more widely available for the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to an official notification, the ministry granted the exemption under the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, but said retailers have to ensure that such products are not sold or stocked after the date of expiry.
India’s COVID-19 tally crosses 15-lakh mark
India’s COVID-19 tally went past 15 lakh on Wednesday, two days after it crossed the 14-lakh mark, with 48,513 fresh cases recorded in a day while the recoveries surged to 9,88,029, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The total coronavirus cases climbed to 15,31,669, while the country’s death toll due to the disease rose to 34,193 with 768 deaths being reported in a 24-hour span, the data updated at 8 am showed.
There are 5,09,447 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country presently. The recovery rate among COVID-19 patients has risen to 64.51%.
This is the seventh consecutive day that COVID-19 cases have increased by more than 45,000. - PTI
Pandemic surging beyond cities in Gujarat
Gujarat on Tuesday recorded 1,108 infections and 24 deaths increasing its cumulative numbers to 2,372 fatalities and 57,982 cases even as the pandemic is surging beyond cities as almost 50% of cases are now being reported from rural districts.
The State has now 13,198 active cases, out of whom 87 patients are on ventilator. On Tuesday, 473 cases were reported from rural districts while in July, almost 50% of the cases are from rural districts.
MP minister Tulsi Silawat, his wife test COVID-19 positive
Madhya Pradesh Water Resources Minister Tulsi Silawat and his wife have tested coronavirus positive.
The information was shared by the minister himself on his Twitter handle on Tuesday. In the tweet, he appealed to those who had come in his contact to get themselves tested.
State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had last week tested COVID-19 positive. - PTI
57% of Mumbai slum population has developed antibodies: Study
A sero-surveillance study done in Mumbai has revealed that 57% of slum population and 16 per cent of non-slum residents in three civic wards had developed antibodies, indicating many people would already be affected by COVID-19 than the official tally suggests.
The sero-surveillance started on June 3 and 6,936 samples out of an estimated 8,870 were collected from slum and non-slum population of three civic wards — R-North, M-West and F-North — in the first half of July.
Moderna aims to price coronavirus vaccine at $50-$60 per course
Moderna Inc is planning to price its coronavirus vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, at least $11 more than another vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources.
Moderna's proposed price for a two-dose course sold to governments compares with $39 for two doses under a deal that Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech struck with the U.S. government.
Moderna's proposed price would apply to the United States and other high-income countries, according to the report. Pfizer, Moderna and Merck & Co have said they plan to sell their vaccines at a profit, while some drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson have announced plans to price their vaccines on a not-for-profit basis. - Reuters
Global air passenger traffic will not return to pre-COVID levels until 2024: IATA
Global air passenger traffic will not return to pre-COVID levels until 2024, a year later than previously projected, as international travel curbs remain in place in most countries due to the coronavirus pandemic, IATA said Tuesday.
Moreover, the overall domestic passenger traffic was 86.5% less in June 2020 than what was observed a year ago, the global airlines body added.
The IATA, which has around 290 airlines as its members, said the international passenger traffic in June was 96.8% less than the figures of June 2019. - PTI
Bi-weekly lockdown in West Bengal extended till August 31
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced extension of two-day complete lockdown every week in the State till August 31. She said the lockdown restrictions would also continue.
For seven days in August, there will be a complete lockdown, which, the CM said, was essential to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19.
She said there would be a complete lockdown on August 16, 23 and 30. The State would also observe lockdown on August 5, 8, 17 and 24.
