The World Health Organisation has said only B.1.617.2, one of the three strains of the B.1.617 COVID-19 variant first detected in India, is a “variant of concern” now and noted that lower rates of transmission have been observed for the other two lineages.
The B.1.617 variant was first detected in India and was divided in three lineages - B.1.617.1, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3.
WHO said that as the global public health risks posed by specific COVID-19 variants becomes better understood and evolves, it will continue to update the list of global Variant of Interests and Variant of Concerns.
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:
Madhya Pradesh government cancels class 12 State board exam
The Madhya Pradesh government decided to cancel the Class 12 State board exam considering the safety of students amid the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, a day after the Centre decided against holding the class 12 exam for the CBSE board.
The State Government had already cancelled the State board exam for students of Class 10. - PTI
DRDO’s 500-bed COVID-19 care hospital inaugurated in Uttarakhand
A 500-bed COVID-19 care hospital set up by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Haldwani was virtually inaugurated by Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Tirath Singh Rawat on Wednesday.
“This facility comprises 375 oxygen beds and 125 intensive care unit [ICU] beds with ventilators. With 100% power backup, it is centrally air-conditioned for all weather conditions. A pathology laboratory, a pharmacy, X-Ray and electrocardiogram [ECG] are inherent part of the facility,” a DRDO statement said. - Dinaker Peri
DRDO’s 500-bed COVID-19 care hospital inaugurated in Uttarakhand
'No vaccination, no salary' for govt staff in Firozabad
In a bid to encourage Covid vaccination, the Firozabaddistrict administration has ordered that government employees will not receive their salaries unless they are vaccinated, an official said here on Wednesday, June 2, 2021.
Chief Development Officer, Charchit Gaur said that District Magistrate Chandra Vijay Singh has issued an oral order of "no vaccination, no salary".
As per the order, if an employee does not take Covid vaccine, the department will initiate action and stop their salary for the month of May, Gaur said.
District treasury officer and other departmental heads have been given directions to implement the order and were asked to make a list and ensure vaccination, he said.
The CDO said that the employees are trying to get themselves vaccinated in fear that their salary might be stopped. — PTI
India records over 1.32 lakh fresh cases, 3,207 fatalities
India reported 1,32,788 new coronavirus infections taking the country's tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,83,07,832, while the daily positivity rate has further dropped to 6.57%, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The COVID-19 death toll climbed to 3,35,102 with 3,207 fresh deaths.
The active cases were recorded below 20 lakh for the second consecutive day, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed. The daily positivity rate stands at 6.57%. It has been less than 10% for nine consecutive days, the ministry said.
The weekly positivity rate has declined to 8.21%.
The active cases have reduced to 17,93,645 comprising 6.34% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 92.48%. - PTI
594 doctors died in India's COVID-19 second wave
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has said that as many as 594 doctors died during the second wave of COVID-19 across the country.
The Association released an updated list on Wednesday and noted that Delhi (107), Bihar (96), Uttar Pradesh (67) and Rajasthan (43) have lost the maximum number of doctors due to COVID in the second wave so far.
While no such count is available for other medical staff currently, the Centre earlier this week announced a new system of processing the insurance claims under the ‘Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) — Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting COVID-19’.
The Health Ministry noted that claims will be certified by the District Collector and after approval will be settled in 48 hours.
The move follows several States raising the matter of processing delays in insurance claims. “This latest order is aimed at cutting down delays and to further streamline and simplify the processing of the insurance claims,” said the Ministry. - Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Odisha, Jharkhand join chorus for Central vaccine procurement
Days after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged other chief ministers to come together to persuade the Centre to procure and distribute vaccines free for the whole nation, Odisha and Jharkhand have also called for centralised procurement. Both States underline the fact that vaccine manufacturers outside India are unwilling to deal directly with States.
After receiving a lukewarm response to its global tender, the Odisha government said on Tuesday that it would be better if the Centre took the responsibility of dealing with the vaccine manufacturers.
Odisha, Jharkhand join chorus for Central vaccine procurement
COVID-19 vaccination: Women lag behind in Karnataka
Women are lagging behind in getting vaccinated in Karnataka by nearly 1.5 lakh, though they outnumbered men in the first phase when inoculation was open only for healthcare and frontline workers.
This mimics the national trend where 9,12,85,344 men have been vaccinated against 7,91,57,070 women.
According to data from the Co-WIN portal, 56,31,821 men and 54,87,031 women have been vaccinated till Tuesday. Till late April, women had outnumbered men and officials had attributed this to the greater female workforce at the grassroots compared to male workers.
COVID-19 vaccination: Women lag behind in Karnataka
Huge rush for vaccination drive for students travelling abroad
There was a huge rush for vaccination on Monday, when a drive for students set to travel abroad for higher education or work began. On day one, 275 in the category were inoculated. Although the drive was suppposed to begin at 3 p.m., the students gathered at the Bengaluru Central University as early as 9.30 a.m.
The personnel managing the drive were taken by surprise, as they were expecting around only 25 to 30 students. The exercise went on till 7.30 p.m. and will continue at the same campus for the next few days. Students, however, have demanded that the government should not allow walk-ins and should give appointments to avoid rush.
Huge rush for vaccination drive for students travelling abroad
Delhi reports lowest hospitalisations due to COVID-19 in over two months
The Capital on Monday reported the lowest number of COVID patients being hospitalised in the last two months — over 10 times lesser compared to the peak of single-day hospital admissions recorded towards the end of April.
At 182, single-day COVID hospital admissions were the lowest on Monday compared to 294 on April 1 during the ascension of the second wave in the city.
Delhi reports lowest hospitalisations due to COVID-19 in over two months
Mexico boosts confirmed death toll by 4,272 to 227,840
Mexico announced that a clinical review of past deaths has led officials to raise the country's confirmed COVID-19 death toll by 4,272, to a total of 227,840.
The adjustment was carried out by teams of doctors and is largely one of record keeping, because even government officials acknowledge Mexico's true pandemic death toll is far, far higher.
Because the country of 126 million people does so little testing, many Mexicans have died at home or never got a test. So the government performs two kinds of adjustments — one by teams of doctors reviewing case files and another computerised search of death certificates for mentions of symptoms related to COVID-19.
The quicker, computerized analyses of excess deaths related to COVID-19 now stand at over 350,088, which gives Mexico one of the highest per capita rates in the world. - AP
Ensure passengers carry negative COVID-19 report, airlines told
The authorities here have told airlines to ensure that those coming to Singapore have a valid negative coronavirus test report before boarding a flight.
The measure applies on Singapore citizens and permanent residents (PRs) too, a Channel News Asia report said.
Previously only long-term pass holders and short-term pass visitors entering Singapore were required to present a negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test report.
The new directions have come after the Ministry of Health announced last week that Singaporeans and PRs are now required to present a report of the test, taken within 72 hours before departing for Singapore. - PTI
