A woman tries on a cardigan at Wellington square, famous for its temporary winter garment market, in Kolkata on November 30, 2020. (Express Photo: Partha Paul)With Serum Institute on the cusp of applying for emergency-use license of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday made it clear that the government had never spoken about vaccinating the entire country. Addressing a press conference, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also said the “adverse event” in a Serum Institute trial of the Covishield vaccine would not affect vaccine timelines in anyway.
“I just want to make this clear that the govt has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country,” Bhushan said. “Vaccination would depend on the efficacy of the vaccine and our purpose is to break the chain of transmission. If we are able to vaccinate critical mass of people and break virus transmission, then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population,” said ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava.
Bhushan also said the initial findings into the “adverse event” allegedly suffered by a vaccine trial participant in Chennai did not necessitate halting of the trials. It is the role of the drug regulator to ascertain or refute if there is any causal link between the event and the intervention, he said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a virtual all-party meeting on December 4 to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country. Floor leads of parties in both Houses of Parliament have been invited to attend. This will be the second such meeting called by the government; the first was held in April, amid the nationwide lockdown.
India detected 31,118 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Tuesday, taking its overall tally to 94.62 lakh. This includes 4,35,603 active cases, 88,89,585 people who have recovered and 1,37,621 deaths. The national capital saw the highest number of deaths due to the novel coronavirus in November; it reported 2,612 fatalities, higher than the toll of 2,219 in June. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Monday capped the price of RT-PCR tests at all private laboratories at Rs 800, down from the existing rate of Rs 2,400.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being briefed during a visit to the Bharat Biotech facility to review the development of indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. (PTI Photo)
Bollywood actor and BJP MP from Gurdaspur, Sunny Deol, has tested positive for COVID-19, the Himachal Pradesh health secretary said on Tuesday. Deol had been staying in Kullu district for some days, Health Secretary Amitabh Awasthi said. Read more
Amid rising COVID-19 cases, Punjab has imposed night curfew between 10 pm and 5 am in several areas.
Delhi government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that since the start of pandemic in March 2020, it is taking all necessary proactive and preventive steps to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital. It said that Delhi is witnessing the third surge since beginning of November 2020 and with the support and guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and expert agencies like NITI Ayog and ICMR, it has successfully responded to the pandemic of COVID-19 so far.
The Centre had on November 27, blamed the Delhi government for rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital and said that despite repeated exhortations it did not take steps to enhance testing capacity, particularly for RT-PCR, which remained static at around 20,000 tests for a long time.
The Centre had said that Delhi government was well aware that the confluence of winter, festival season and pollution were likely to witness a surge in cases and this foreknowledge ought to have led to strict enforcement and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) measures being instituted well in time but this was not done. (PTI)
Vietnamese authorities are conducting intensive contact tracing after discovering the country's first confirmed local transmission of the coronavirus in 89 days. State media said Tuesday that a 32-year-old man in Ho Chi Minh City tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday after visiting a flight attendant who was undergoing self-quarantine at his home following his return from Japan two weeks ago. The flight attendant tested positive on Saturday, the Tuoi Tre newspaper said.
Health authorities ordered 137 people who had been in close contact with the man to stay in a central quarantine facility and shut down an English center where he works as a teacher, the newspaper said.
The new case ended Vietnam’s streak of 89 days without any known local transmission of the virus. Earlier, it went 99 days without local transmissions until a cluster of cases broke out at a hospital in Da Nang in central Vietnam in July. (AP)
Rajasthan recorded 19 more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the COVID-19 death toll in the state to 2,347, according to a health department bulletin. The state also reported 2,331 new cases on Tuesday. The total number of people infected by COVID-19 now stands at 2,70,410 in Rajasthan and out of these 27,974 are under treatment.
As per the bulletin, 2,40,105 people have been discharged after treatment till now. In Jaipur, the death toll due to the virus is 439 till now, followed by 242 in Jodhpur, 188 in Ajmer, 162 in Bikaner, 137 in Kota, 105 in Bharatpur, 96 in Udaipur and 90 in Pali.
On Tuesday, Rajasthan recorded 2,347 new cases, including 692 in Jaipur, 314 in Jodhpur, 169 in Kota, 117 in Alwar, 110 in Udaipur, 95 in Bharatpur, 93 in Nagaur and 84 in Ajmer, besides cases reported in other districts of the state. (PTI)
Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 4,930 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 18,28,826, the state health department said. With 95 more patients succumbing to the viral infection, the overall toll mounted to 47,246, it said. A total of 6,290 patients were discharged during the day, taking the tally of recoveries to 16,91,412, a health department official said, adding that the state is now left
with 89,098 active cases. Mumbai city reported 724 new cases, taking its caseload to 2,84,191 while the count of fatalities rose by nine to 10,893, he said. The state has so far tested 1,09,15,683 samples. (PTI)
The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said it had issued written directions to states and Union Territories to form expert groups to study the market and determine the rates of COVID-19 tests. In response to a question posed at a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said deciding the rates of the tests does not come under the purview of the Centre and is a state matter.
"However, the Centre gives recommendations to the state and Union Territories from time to time on deciding the rate of tests in a rational and transparent manner.
"Last week, the Union health ministry wrote to all states to set up an expert group to study the market and determine the testing rates. The states have adopted different ways to fix the rates," he said.
Delhi recorded 4,006 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 5.74 lakh, while 86 new fatalities pushed the toll from the disease to 9,260, authorities said. These fresh cases came out of the 58,456 COVID-19 tests conducted the previous day, including 30,297 RT-PCR tests, while the positivity rate stood at 6.85 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi Health Department. The active COVID-19 case count stood at 31,769 in Delhi on Tuesday, it said. The bulletin said the total number of novel coronavirus cases has climbed to 5,74,380 in the national capital (PTI)
The Union government on Tuesday said that it has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. At a press briefing, officials said that there might not even be a need to vaccinate the entire population. On allegations of the 'adverse event' in a Serum institute trial, the government said it will not affect vaccine timelines in anyway. The initial findings into the 'adverse event' allegedly suffered by an Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial participant in Chennai did not necessitate halting of the trials, the Centre said. It is the role of the drug regulator to ascertain or refute if there is any causal link between the event and the intervention, it said.
The initial findings into the 'adverse event' allegedly suffered by an Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial participant in Chennai did not necessitate halting of the trials, the Centre said on Tuesday. It is the role of drug regulator to ascertain or refute if there is any causal link between the event and the intervention, it said. On allegation of the 'adverse event' in a Serum institute trial, the government said it will not affect vaccine timelines in anyway. (PTI)
"Vaccination would depend on the efficacy of the vaccine and our purpose is to break the chain of COVID19 transmission. If we're able to vaccinate critical mass of people & break virus transmission, then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population," said ICMR's Dr Balram Bhargava
The top 5 states showing a rise in active COVID cases from Nov 1-Dec 1 are Punjab, HP, MP, Haryana and Rajasthan, said Health Ministry in its briefing on Tuesday.
On being asked about the recent adverse event in the Serum Institute of India's vaccine trial, Health Ministry's Rajesh Bhushan said that adverse event will not affect the timeline in any manner whatsoever.
'Adverse events do occur with drugs or vaccines or any other health intervention. It is the role of the regulator after collating all data to ascertain or refute whether there is a causal link between the event and intervention,' said ICMR's Dr Balram Bhargava.
On being asked about the recent adverse event in the Serum Institute of India's vaccine trial, Health Ministry's Rajesh Bhushan said that adverse event will not affect the timeline in any manner whatsoever. He also added that the cumulative positivity rate has decreased in India from 7.15% to 6.69% during Nov 11-Dec 1 period. 'In November 2020, the number of recoveries has been more than the number of new #COVID19 cases,' he said.
Singapore and Hong Kong have deferred the launch of their planned air travel bubble till next year, amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the Special Administrative Region of China. In a statement on Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said the travel bubble will be deferred beyond December and the exact start date will be reviewed late this month.
The CASS has called on passengers on planned flights to contact their airlines regarding changes to travel plans. Under the original deal which was announced in mid-October, the bubble flights would be suspended for two weeks if the seven-day moving average of the daily number of unlinked local COVID-19 cases was more than five for either Singapore or Hong Kong.
"Average daily positivity rate last week was 3.72%. Among all the big nations in world, cases per million in India (at 211 cases/mn ) are the lowest. Last 7 days trends shows that European nations are witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases," said Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry
Active cases of COVID-19 in India have remained below the 5-lakh mark, with its share further shrinking to 4.60 per cent of the total coronavirus infections reported so far, according to the Union Health Ministry. The daily new recoveries exceeding new cases has led to a total net reduction of the active caseload to 4,35,603. A net decline of 11,349 cases has been recorded in the total active cases in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said on Tuesday.
A total of 31,118 new infections were added to the national tally in a day. While some states like Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh have witnessed a decline in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours, others such as Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Assam and Goa have reported an addition to their caseload.
In contrast to 31,118 new reported COVID-19 cases, 41,985 cases have recovered in a span of 24 hours.The total recovered cases stand at 88,89,585 which translates to a recovery rate of 93.94 per cent. "The gap between recoveries and active cases continues to grow and presently stands at 84,53,982," the ministry said. (PTI)
The Gujarat government on Tuesday reduced the price of RT-PCR tests conducted by private laboratories for COVID-19 to Rs 800 from Rs 1,500. Deputy chief minister Nitin Patel told PTI that since the prices of test kits have come down, the state government decided to pass on this benefit to people. 'From today, the government-authorised private laboratories will charge Rs 800 for an RT-PCR test, a reduction of Rs 700 from the current rate,' Patel said.
The prices of test kits have come down following large scale production, he said. If a laboratory assistant is called at home to collect samples, the charge for the RT-PCR test will be Rs 1,100, he said, adding that labs charge Rs 2,000 for the home collection service at present. The decision to slash the test rates was taken by the government's core group under the guidance of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, he said. (PTI)
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been administered an experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed by China, according to a Reuters report. The report quotes a US analyst who has cited two unidentified Japanese intelligence sources.
"Kim Jong Un and multiple other high-ranking officials within the Kim family and leadership network have been vaccinated for coronavirus within the last two to three weeks thanks to a vaccine candidate supplied by the Chinese government," Kazianis wrote. Read more here
Influenza is caused by a virus, but the most common cause of death in influenza patients is secondary pneumonia caused by bacteria, rather than the influenza virus itself. While this is well known, what is largely unknown is why influenza infections lead to an increased risk of bacterial pneumonia.
Now, researchers at Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have described findings leading to so-called “superinfections”. The study is published in the journal PNAS. It can also contribute to research on Covid-19, the scientists suggest.
The researchers cite the example of the Spanish flu, which was an influenza pandemic that swept across the world in 1918–20. Unlike many other pandemics, the Spanish flu disproportionately hit young healthy adults. And one important reason for this was “superinfections” caused by bacteria, in particular pneumococci. Read more here
India detected 31,118 cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Tuesday, taking its overall tally to 94.62 lakh. This includes 4,35,603 active cases, 88,89,585 people who have recovered and 1,37,621 deaths.ud83eudda0 Active cases fall to about 4.35 lakh, a level last seen in the third week of July ud83eudda0 Biggest contribution on Monday from #Maharashtra, which reported about 3,800 new cases#ExpressExplained (2/2)— Express Explained (@ieexplained) December 1, 2020
American drugmaker Moderna said on Monday (November 30) that it was applying for emergency use authorisation for a Covid-19 vaccine that it has been developing. A few days ago, pharmaceutical giant Pfizer had also made an application for emergency use authorisation for a vaccine it has developed in collaboration with BioNTech of Germany.
In India, Serum Institute of India, which has been testing a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, has said it is expecting to seek emergency use authorisation within the next two weeks.
So, what is emergency use authorisation? Vaccines, like medicines, require the approval of a regulatory authority before these can be administered. Even diagnostic tests or medical devices need to be approved before use. In India, the top regulatory authority is the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, or CDSCO. Read more here
Despite a progressive relaxation in Covid curbs over the past six months to revive the economy, the latest official latest data show that more gram panchayats have logged work under the rural job guarantee scheme this financial year so far than over the last seven.
An analysis by The Indian Express of data available upto November 29 on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) portal shows the number of gram panchayats generating nil persondays of work during the current financial year at an eight-year low of 9,181 -- only 3.42 per cent of the 2.68 lakh gram panchayats across the country.
This means that over 96 per cent of gram panchayats across the country have registered demand for work under NREGS from April till November-end, signalling that the rural economy is still struggling to recover from the pandemic-induced slump. Read Harikishan Sharma's report
Rajasthan on Monday reported 20 more deaths due to COVID-19, while 2,677 fresh cases pushed the state's caseload to 2,68,063.
The state's COVID-19 death toll has reached 2,312 and the number of active cases stands at 28,653, according to a health department bulletin.mSo far, 2,37,098 people have been discharged after treatment, it said.
In Jaipur, the death toll from the coronavirus infection is 435 so far, followed by 239 in Jodhpur, 187 in Ajmer, 161 in Bikaner, 135 in Kota, 105 in Bharatpur, 95 in Udaipur and 90 in Pali. On Monday, Rajasthan recorded 2,677 new cases, including 745 in Jaipur, 475 in Jodhpur, 194 in Kota, 97 in Tonk, 90 each in Alwar, Bharatpur and Nagaur, 84 in Bhilwara and 83 in Dungarpur, besides cases reported in other districts of the state.
Jammu and Kashmir on Monday recorded 370 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the infection tally to 1,10,224, while nine coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours took the toll to 1,694, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 181 were from the Jammu division and 189 from Kashmir division, they said.
At 84, the highest number of cases were reported from Srinagar district, followed by 81 from Jammu, they said. The number of active cases has now fallen below 5,000 as 483 patients have recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, they said.
A total of 1,03,562 patients have recovered so far and the number of active cases stands at 4,965, the officials said. Meanwhile, the UT reported nine COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours ? six from Jammu and three from the Kashmir region.
Moderna Inc applied for US and European emergency authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine on Monday based on full results from a late-stage study showing its vaccine was 94.1% effective with no serious safety concerns. It also reported a 100% success rate in preventing severe cases.
The filing sets Moderna's product up to be the second vaccine likely to receive US emergency use authorisation this year. "We believe that we have a vaccine that is very highly efficacious. We now have the data to prove it," Moderna Chief Medical Officer Dr Tal Zaks said in a telephone interview.
"We expect to be playing a major part in turning around this pandemic." Zaks said he was emotional after seeing the 94.1% result over the weekend: "It was the first time I allowed myself to cry. At this level of effectiveness, when you just do the math of what it means for the pandemic that's raging around us, it's just overwhelming." READ MORE
At least 21 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Monday, pushing the tally in the state to 32,695, a health department official said. The death toll remained at 367 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported, he said.
West Tripura district, of which state capital Agartala is a part, has accounted for 185 of the 367 COVID-19 deaths, the official said. Tripura currently has 598 active cases, while 31,707 people have recovered from the disease. Twenty-three patients have migrated to other states. On Sunday, 78 people were discharged from GB Pant Hospital, the main referral facility for coronavirus patients in the state.
A total of 5,26,410 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the northeastern state so far, the official said.
To encourage COVID-19-appropriate behaviour among residents of Mumbai, the city civic body has decided to provide 'free' masks to those found without face cover in public and also collect a fine of Rs 200 from them.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in a release on Sunday said from April till November 28, it took action against 4.85 lakh citizens for not wearing masks in public places and collected over Rs 10.7 crore as fine from them. The BMC said when an offender, after being fined, goes ahead without a face mask, the objective of implementing the COVID-19 prevention protocol remains unfulfilled.
"Therefore, in order to fulfill the objective, the citizen concerned will be provided a free mask and charged a penalty of Rs 200," it said. The relevant penalty receipt will also mention about the free mask, it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to hold a virtual meeting on Friday, December 4, with floor leaders of all parties in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the three teams involved in developing indigenous vaccines for Covid-19, and advised them to try and inform people in simple language about the shot and related matters such as its efficacy. These teams were from Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd Pune, Biological E Ltd Hyderabad and Dr Reddys Laboratories Ltd Hyderabad.
'The PM advised all the departments concerned to engage with the manufacturers and seek to resolve matters so that the efforts by these companies bear fruit in order to serve the needs of the country and the entire world,' a statement from the Prime Minister's Office read, reported PTI.
The stronger than expected uptick in economic indicators in October, while raise optimism over the state of the economy, must be treated with caution as data for some of these indicators for November signals some moderation in activities, justifying concerns over the sustainability of this upswing. Further, the possibility of the imposition of localised restrictions on activities due to rising COVID-19 cases adversely impacting economic activities going forward also cannot be ruled out. Read The Indian Express editorial
Rates for Covid-19 tests to be reduced in Delhi, says CM Arvind Kejriwal. "I have directed that the rates of RT PCR tests be reduced in Delhi. Whereas tests are being conducted free of cost in govt establishments, however this will help those who get their tests done in pvt labs," he tweets.
“They were working for us, so why not work for them?” Neeshi Jebisamam remembers thinking in April, a week after the nationwide lockdown was announced. But even at the outset, there were murmurs: “Isn’t it risky? What if you get the virus?” Arunachal Pradesh might have had only one case of the coronavirus back then, but panic had begun to set in.
The 25-year-old English teacher was determined though, and one bright morning, she held a meeting with 10 women at a government school, empty due to the lockdown, located on the edge of her hometown, Bhalukpong. The desks and benches were stowed away, large utensils brought in, and a stove crackled to life. The 10 — homemakers, nurses, teachers — put on their masks, rolled up their sleeves, and got to work.
“We never charged for our meals,” says Mary Sidisow, the 39-year-old staff nurse at the Community Health Centre (CHC) who first suggested the idea of a community kitchen. “Our objective was simple — to feed the frontline worker, be it a doctor, a nurse, a policeman or even a daily wage labourer. A free meal for anyone who was hungry.”
Merriam-Webster's 2020 word of the year is 'pandemic'. "That probably isn't a big shock," Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, told The Associated Press. "Often the big news story has a technical word that's associated with it and in this case, the word pandemic is not just technical but has become general. It's probably the word by which we'll refer to this period in the future."
AP reports: "The word took on urgent specificity in March, when the coronavirus crisis was designated a pandemic, but it started to trend up on Merriam-Webster.com as early January and again in February when the first US deaths and outbreaks on cruise ships occurred. On March 11, when the World Health Organisation declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic, lookups on the site for pandemic spiked hugely."
Once a Covid-19 vaccine becomes available in India, how does the government go about immunising the population? Which groups should get the vaccine first, and who should get it free? In an interview to Prabha Raghavan, India’s leading public health expert, Prof K Srinath Reddy, weighs in: "The two main criteria for selection of the initial groups to be offered the vaccine are essentiality and vulnerability. These criteria overlap in some groups. For example, healthcare providers who test, trace, treat or counsel persons infected with the Covid-19 are both essential service providers and also very vulnerable to becoming infected due to their repetitive exposure to high viral loads. They will be the top priority everywhere. Other essential services include sanitation, security, transport and those involved in the production of essential goods and supplies." Read the full interview
Days after a Chennai man, who volunteered to take part in the clinical trials of vaccine candidate Covidshield, sent a legal notice to Serum Institute of India (SII) alleging that the vaccine triggered “severe adverse reaction” in him and sought compensation of Rs 5 crore, the Pune-based firm on Sunday said the allegations were “malicious” and that his medical condition was not linked to the vaccine trial. The company said it will seek damages in excess of Rs 100 crore. Read more here
The restrictions imposed due to Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu have been extended till December 31, the state government has announced. However, undergraduate final year classes can begin from December 7; Chennai's Marina Beach will reopen on December 14 and gatherings will be allowed with 50 per cent capacity of the facility, or up to 200 people. Read more here
India detected 38,772 new cases of the coronavirus infection on Sunday. A total of over 94.31 lakh people are so far infected with the virus. Of India's tally, 4.46 lakh are active cases, a drop of about 7,000 from Saturday. There were 443 deaths reported on Sunday.
In conversation with superstar Amitabh Bachchan and The Indian Express Executive Director Anant Goenka, at a 26/11 special event showcasing corona warriors who epitomise the stories of strength that mark Mumbai — which was telecast on Star Plus on Sunday night — Guest of Honour Dr Harsh Vardhan talks about Prime Minister Modi’s efforts and the role of India’s immunisation programme in fighting Covid.
"I am fully hopeful of a vaccine being available in the beginning of 2021, a safe vaccine with good efficacy. Regarding its availability to the public, there is no denying that we can’t inoculate 135 crore people all at once. However, as per our planning, by June-July, almost 30 crore people will get the vaccine, among whom we will prioritise first, health workers, in the government and private sector, then frontline workers in the field whether it is the police, paramilitary or Army, corporation employees or sanitation workers, followed by those above the age of 65, then those between 50 and 65, and then those younger who have comorbidities such as diabetes, heart conditions," Vardhan said. Read more here
Welcome to our live blog on the Covid-19 situation in India. We're tracking the latest developments on the pandemic, news on cases, deaths and recoveries and the development of vaccines. Save this page, and follow our live blog through the day. India is nearing the grim milestone of 10 million Covid-19 cases. Maharashtra, Kerala and Delhi are the highest contributors to the country’s caseload, which on Sunday stood at 93.92 lakh.