Health

India records lowest single day rise in Covid-19 infections in two months

India records lowest single day rise in Covid-19 infections in two months

91,702 new cases of Covid-19 reported in India, the lowest single-day rise in infections in around two months. This is the fourth day in a row when daily infections in India are below one lakh. The total infection tally stands at 2,92,74,823, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday morning. The death toll from Covid-19 climbed to 3,63,079 with 3,403 new fatalities. States like Tamil Nadu with 16,813 cases, Kerala with 14,424 cases, Maharashtra with 12,207 cases, Karnataka with 11,042 cases and Andhra Pradesh with 8,110 registered maximum cases. As per updated data, 68.25 per cent of…
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Delta variant of Covid-19 can infect Covishield Or Covaxin vaccinated people, claims AIIMS study

Delta variant of Covid-19 can infect Covishield Or Covaxin vaccinated people, claims AIIMS study

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in collaboration with the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) have done two separate studies which have shown that the Delta variant of COVID-19 can infect people who have received one or two jabs of either Covishield or Covaxin. In the AIIMS-IGIB study, no death has been reported in the 63 subjects, but the study has found out that the Delta variant is predominant in the reinfection cases. All of them got breakthrough infections and among the samples which were genome sequenced, the Delta variant…
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What does India’s new vaccine policy actually mean? Read here

What does India’s new vaccine policy actually mean? Read here

PM Modi announced: "From 21 June, all adults over the age of 18 will be vaccinated [for] free,". "Whether it is the poor, the lower middle class, the middle class, or the upper middle class, under the central government programme, everyone will get free vaccines," He said. How has the policy changed? Prime Minister Modi's addressed the nation on TV, in which he talked about the history and logistics of vaccine programmes in India. This is where he made the announcement. Prime Minister Modi made a national TV address on the vaccination programme Under the earlier Covid vaccine policy, half…
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18 Employees killed in Pune chemical factory Fire

18 Employees killed in Pune chemical factory Fire

At least eighteen employees of a chemical factory in Maharashtra's Pune have died and several are missing as a massive fire broke out in the sanitiser-manufacturing unit of the firm on Monday. Some 37 workers were trapped inside the building when the blaze started around 15:45 on Monday. Fire engines rushed to the spot as smoke billowed from the compound - firemen had to break walls on either side to rescue people. The factory belonged to SV Aqua Technologies, a company that makes chlorine dioxide products, which is typically used in water treatment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences…
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Many states start unlocking as Covid-19 cases start to decrease in India

Many states start unlocking as Covid-19 cases start to decrease in India

National capital Delhi and financial hub, Mumbai, are among the cities that are opening partially. The crushing second wave saw hospital beds, medicines and even oxygen run short as cases spiked and deaths rose. But experts continue to advice precaution amid a lagging vaccine drive and the threat posed by new variants. Less than four percent of India's 1.4 billion people have been fully vaccinated. Vaccine hesitancy too remains a challenge, especially in rural areas. India reported about 101,000 new infections on Monday and more than 2,400 deaths - far lower than the nearly 400,000 daily cases it was recording…
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Passenger train collision in Pakistan kills and injures Dozens

Passenger train collision in Pakistan kills and injures Dozens

At least 40 people killed and dozens more injured in a collision of two passenger trains in southern Pakistan. Officials said that one train travelling in Sindh province had derailed and landed on another track. A second train packed with passengers then collided with it and overturned. Rescue teams took the injured to nearby hospitals and it is thought that several are in a critical condition. According to local media reports, 150 people died in such incidents between 2013 and 2019. Dozens of people have been killed in the crash "There are about six to eight bogies [carriages] that are…
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Our country has fought on many fronts to tackle Covid: PM Modi

Our country has fought on many fronts to tackle Covid: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing the nation on the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country. This comes on the heels of several states across the country including Maharashtra and Delhi beginning the process of ‘unlocking’ by gradually easing coronavirus-induced restrictions and curfews. His address comes on a day India reported 1,00,636 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 61 days. “This is the biggest pandemic in the last hundred years. The modern world had neither seen nor experienced such a pandemic. Our country has fought together on many fronts during such a big global pandemic—from making ventilators to preparing a…
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India orders 300 million doses of an unapproved coronavirus vaccine

India orders 300 million doses of an unapproved coronavirus vaccine

India has ordered 300 million doses of an unnamed amd unapproved vaccine from Indian firm Biological E. The coronavirus vaccine is is in Phase 3 trials, and had showed "promising results" in the first two phases, the federal government said in a statement. However, the $206m order has not received emergency approval. India has administered just over 220 million jabs so far, although much of its 1.4 billion population is now eligible for the vaccine. Less than 15% of the country has received at least one dose of the vaccination, largely because of a severe shortage of doses. India is…
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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announces some relaxations to restrictions in West Bengal

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announces some relaxations to restrictions in West Bengal

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, announced some relaxations to the current restrictions in the state, while addressing a meeting at Nabanna today. Retail stores can now be kept open from 12 noon-4 pm, informed the CM. Hotels and restaurants can be kept open with a 50% workforce from 5 pm to 8 pm only if the workers are vaccinated and all safety measures must be followed. She annoumced free vaccines for the workers of rice mills and flour mills like ration shop workers. The CM further said that partial exemptions are also being considered in the case of shopping malls. There…
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Bihar launches ‘Vaccine Express’

Bihar launches ‘Vaccine Express’

After the launch of "Vaccine Express" in the rural areas, the Bihar government rolled out similar vaccination vans for the urban areas with an aim to vaccinate maximum number of people at their doorsteps. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took the initiative for  'Vaccine Express' in the presence of Deputy Chief ministers-Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi- along with the  Health Minister Mangal Pandey . He admired  the health department for this idea of plying vaccine vans in the cities to speed up inoculation of larger section of the population. Similar vans were run for the rural areas of the state in…
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