India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases surged to 3,01,83,143 with 48,698 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have crossed 2.91 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
Top 10 Developments:
- Bracing for a surge in Covid-19 cases brought on by the highly transmissible Delta plus variant, Maharashtra has rolled back relaxations in districts and cities where theatres, malls, multiplexes had opened and private firms were permitted 100% staffing. This includes Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur and Pune.
- The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has officially passed the order for Mumbai to stay in level three of Covid-19 restrictions imposed in Maharashtra.
- The Union health ministry urged eight states and union territories to take up immediate containment measures including preventing crowds, conducting widespread testing as well as increasing vaccine coverage on a priority basis in districts where the Delta Plus variant of coronavirus has been detected. The measures were suggested by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan in a letter to Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat and Haryana. Vaccines Covishield and Covaxin work against SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, while effectiveness tests against the Delta Plus variant is ongoing, the government said.
- Even as 48 samples in 11 states have been detected with the new Delta-plus variant (AY.1) of SARS-CoV2, the government said the spread is very localised with 21 cases identified from Maharashtra, which has also seen the maximum transmission of the Covid infection so far. “Delta-plus is present in 12 countries,” Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Dr Balram Bhargava said.
- After months of closing temporary hospital spaces as the coronavirus pandemic receded, Mexico announced Friday it will re-open two temporary wards to handle a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.The Mexican Social Security Institute said the two temporary 30- and 40-bed wards will be opened in covered areas in parking lots of hospitals in the state of Baja California Sur.
- US will donate 3 million doses of Johnson and Johnson Covid vaccine to Afghanistan through Covax: White House after President Joe Biden’s meeting with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
- The US drug regulator on Friday added a warning to the literature that accompanies Pfizer Inc /BioNTech and Moderna Covid vaccine shots to indicate the rare risk of heart inflammation after its use. For each vaccine, the fact sheets for healthcare providers have been revised to include a warning that reports of adverse events suggest increased risks of myocarditis and pericarditis, particularly after the second dose and with onset of symptoms within a few days after vaccination, the FDA said.
- The number of Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in the UK have risen by 35,204 since last week to a total of 111,157, representing a 46 per cent increase, health officials said in the weekly report released on Friday.
- Citing Health Ministry, Times of Israel reported that the renewed mandate took effect at noon in all enclosed spaces — except for permanent places of residence — a day after the head of a team appointed to tackle coronavirus, czar Nachman Ash said it would be reinstated early next week amid a recent resurgence in cases.
- The European Medicines Agency has approved a new manufacturing site for Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, in a move that should boost production of the one-dose vaccine across the 27-nation EU. In a statement Friday, the EU drug regulator said the new site in Anagni, Italy, will finish manufacturing of the J&J vaccine, which was licensed for use in adults across Europe in March.