At least 22 States and Union Territories have reopened schools for all students after a prolonged closure due to the Covid pandemic while over 92% of the teaching personnel in India have been vaccinated, the Union Education Ministry said on Tuesday.
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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:
Covaxin gets shelf life extension up to 12 months
Vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Wednesday said the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved the extension of shelf life of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin up to 12 months from the date of manufacture.
"The CDSCO has approved the extension of shelf life of Covaxin up to 12 months, from the date of manufacture. This approval of shelf life extension is based on the availability of additional stability data, which was submitted to CDSCO," Bharat Biotech said in a tweet. - PTI
PM holds review meeting with DMs of over 40 districts on low Covid vaccination coverage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday is holding a review meeting with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
The meeting, being held via video conferencing, includes districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of vaccine.
The 40 districts are spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra and Meghalaya, among other states, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
PM holds review meeting with DMs of over 40 districts on low Covid vaccination coverage
Novel antibody reduces severity of COVID-19 infection: Study
Scientists have identified and tested an antibody that limits the severity of infections from a variety of coronaviruses, including those that cause COVID-19 as well as the SARS illness.
The study, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Tuesday, isolated the antibody by analysing blood from a patient who had been infected with the SARS-CoV-1 virus, which caused the SARS outbreak, and from a current COVID-19 patient. -PTI
Over 14.68 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses still available with States, UTs
Over 114 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to States and Union Territories so far through Centre's free of cost channel and through direct State procurement category, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
More than 14.68 crore (14,68,60,146) -- balance and unutilised -- vaccine doses are still available with the States and Union Territories, it said. -PTI
11,903 new COVID-19 cases, 311 deaths in India; active case count declines further
India's COVID-19 tally reached 3,43,08,140 with a single-day rise of 11,903 cases, while the number of active cases declined to 1,51,209, the lowest in 252 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll has climbed to 4,59,191 with 311 daily fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 26 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 129 consecutive days now.
The number of active cases has declined to 1,51,209, comprising 0.44% of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.22%, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. -PTI
China battles new outbreak with sweeping measures
With more than 400 cases reported in the past two weeks across several provinces in a country that has been following a “zero COVID” strategy, the country's authorities are deploying now familiar sweeping measures of multiple lockdowns, mass testing and quarantining tens of thousands of people in designated facilities, all part of the playbook that has broadly worked to allow China to escape a major second wave after the initial outbreak that began in Wuhan in December 2019 and January 2020.
China battles new outbreak with sweeping measures
Dutch government tightens COVID-19 measures again
Faced with sharply rising coronavirus cases, the caretaker prime minister of the Netherlands said Tuesday that the Dutch government is reinstituting an order to wear face masks in public places like stores and libraries and mandating an extension for the use of COVID-19 passes. -AP
U.S. CDC advisers recommend Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for young kids
Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday voted unanimously to recommend the use of the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE COVID-19 vaccine for children aged five to 11 years.
The two-dose vaccine's rollout for the age group is set to begin as soon as CDC director Rochelle Walensky signs off on the recommendations made by the advisory panel. -Reuters
