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:
U.K. to scrap all remaining COVID restrictions next week
The British government confirmed Saturday that people with COVID-19 won’t be legally required to self-isolate starting next week, as part of a plan for “living with COVID” that is also likely to see testing for the coronavirus scaled back.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said ending all of the legal restrictions brought in to curb the spread of the virus will let people in the U.K. “protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms.”
Mr. Johnson’s Conservative government lifted most virus restrictions in January, scrapping vaccine passports for venues and ending mask mandates in most settings apart from hospitals in England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have opened up, although more slowly.
In Britain, 85% of people age 12 and up have had two vaccine doses and almost two-thirds have had a third booster shot.- AP
Fortress Australia to welcome tourists for first time under COVID
Australia will welcome international tourists on Monday after nearly two years of sealing its borders, relying on high COVID-19 vaccination rates to live with the pandemic as infections decline.
“The wait is over,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a Sunday briefing at the Melbourne International Airport.
Australia’s opening to tourists is the clearest example yet of the government’s shift from a strict zero-COVID approach to living with the virus and vaccinating the public to minimise deaths and severe illness.
Most of the country’s 2.7 million coronavirus infections have occurred since the Omicron variant emerged in late November. But with one of the world’s highest vaccination rates - more than 94% of people aged 16 and over are double-dosed - there have been just under 5,000 deaths, a fraction of the rates seen in many other developed countries.- Reuters
Active COVID-19 cases in India decline
Daily new COVID-19 cases in India fell below 20,000 after 51 days, taking the total virus tally to 4,28,22,473, while the active cases dipped to 2,24,187, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
A total of 19,968 cases have been reported in a day while the death toll climbed to 5,11,903 with 673 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The daily COVID-19 cases have remained below one lakh for 14 consecutive days.
India reported 16,764 corornavirus infections on December 30 last year.- PTI
Britain to set out plans to scrap COVID self-isolation laws
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson intends to set out plans next week to remove self-isolation requirements for people infected with COVID-19, his office said on Saturday.
Britain would become the first major European country to allow people who know they are infected with COVID-19 to freely use shops, public transport and go to work—a move many of his health advisors think is risky.
“Covid will not suddenly disappear, and we need to learn to live with this virus and continue to protect ourselves without restricting our freedoms,” Mr. Johnson said in a statement.
Mr. Johnson will also give more details on how Britain will guard against future coronavirus variants through ongoing surveillance, amid reports that the government wants to end free testing and scale back public health studies.- Reuters
Survey to assess COVID-19 impact on Delhi govt school children soon
The Delhi government will soon commission a study to assess the impact on the mental health and emotional well-being of students due to the closure of schools, COVID-19 and the shift towards online education, officials said on Saturday.
Schools in Delhi were closed following lockdown in March 2020 and were opened this month.
The planning department of the Delhi government on Friday issued a request for proposal (RFQ) to hire a suitable agency to conduct the study covering government school students, parents and teachers.
“The study is designed to assess the emotional well-being and mental health of all types of students, boys and girls, from different classes, age groups, social and economic backgrounds, which will provide an insight into how students from different backgrounds responded, adapted and handled the effects of COVID-19,” the document stated.- PTI
Over 175.33 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in country
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 175.33 crore on Saturday, the Union health ministry said.
More than 27 lakh (27,47,926) vaccine doses were administered till 7 pm.
The ministry also said that over 1.89 crore (1,89,07,829) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities.- PTI
Covaxin to be evaluated as COVID-19 vaccine candidate in U.S. as USFDA lifts clinical hold
harat Biotech on Saturday said its Covaxin will be evaluated as a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the US.
In a statement, Ocugen Inc, Bharat Biotech’s partner in the US and Canada for Covaxin, noted that the American health regulator—the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)—has lifted its clinical hold to evaluate the COVID-19 vaccine candidate BBV152, known as Covaxin outside the US.
Covaxin (BBVI52), which has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is an investigational vaccine candidate product in the U.S.
Ocugen Inc is co-developing the Covaxin vaccine candidate for COVID-19 in the U.S. and Canada.
“We are pleased to be able to move our clinical program for Covaxin forward, which we hope will bring us closer to offering an alternative COVID-19 vaccine,” Ocugen CEO and co-founder Shankar Musunuri said in a statement.- PTI
Gas tragedy victims’ safety was foremost concern when Covid began: Ex-DM of Bhopal
Efforts to keep victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy safe from the coronavirus infection was foremost in the minds of administrators in the initial days of the pandemic, the then collector of Madhya Pradesh’s capital district said on Saturday.
Tarun Pithode, a 2009-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who served as the Bhopal district magistrate (DM) between June 2019 and June 2020, has come out with a book narrating experiences from the pandemic.
India reported its first COVID-19 case on January 27, 2020. Madhya Pradesh’s maiden case was reported from Jabalpur district on March 20, 2020.- PTI
Schools disinfected as students gear up for full-time schooling
Cleaning and disinfection of State schools ahead of resumption of full-time schooling got under way on Saturday.
Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty inaugurated the State-level cleaning and disinfection at a function at SMV Government Model Higher Secondary School on Saturday. The Minister reiterated his plea for public support in completion of disinfection.
