Health

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The third and largest phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive to inoculate people in 18-45 age group began here Monday morning.

Around 90 lakh people are eligible for the jabs under this category in Delhi. Five vaccination booths each have been set up at 77 schools for the exercise, an official said.

The government set up the vaccination centres at schools to accommodate the large number of beneficiaries, he added.

Till now, vaccines were being given to those aged above 45 at around 500 centres in the national capital.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s call for authorizing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices has energized Democrats on a politically popular idea they’ve been pushing for nearly 20 years only to encounter frustration.

But they still lack a clear path to enact legislation. That’s because a small number of Democrats remain uneasy over government price curbs on pharmaceutical companies.

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) The daily COVID-19 cases in India showed a slight dip with 368,147 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, taking the total tally of cases to 19,925,604, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll increased to 218,959 with 3,417 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

While the country recorded 401,993 new cases on May 1, it had registered 392,488 cases on May 2.

01 May 2021; MEMO: COVID-19 cases and deaths in the occupied Palestinian territories have sharply declined in recent days, officials from the Ministry of Health in Gaza and the West Bank confirmed on Sunday.

In the last 24 hours, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip recorded 664 new COVID-19 cases and eight deaths, with 171 cases and four deaths in the West Bank and 493 cases and four deaths in the Gaza strip.

New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced an extension of the ongoing lockdown in Delhi by another week on Saturday amid a sudden surge in COVID-19 cases as the national capital battles an acute shortage of beds and medical oxygen in its hospitals.

"Lockdown in Delhi is being extended by one week," Kejriwal said in a tweet.

The lockdown that was scheduled to be in force till 5 am on Monday now stands extended by another week till May 10.

Colombo, May 2 (PTI) Sri Lanka's health authorities have issued new tough guidelines, including banning wedding receptions and gatherings at religious sites, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus as the Island nation continued to record a spike in daily infections.

For the fifth on Friday, the daily number of cases reported crossed the 1,000-mark.

The country recorded several cases of the UK variant which has a bigger mortality rate, health officials said.

Jerusalem, May 2 (PTI) Israel barred its citizens from travelling to India and six other countries, citing high COVID infection rates there.

In a joint press release issued by the Israel Prime Minister's Office and the Health Ministry on Friday, it was said that Israelis will not be allowed to travel to Ukraine, Brazil, Ethiopia, South Africa, India, Mexico and Turkey.

This regulation will come into force on May 3 and will remain in place until May 16.

New Delhi, May 1 (PTI) The Delhi High Court Saturday directed all hospitals in the national capital to provide information on daily admissions and discharge of COVID-19 patients and of those admitted for over 10 days, since April 1.

A concern was raised in the court regarding optimal utilisation of ICU and oxygenated beds and ICU beds in hospitals and nursing homes across Delhi.

Patna, May 1 (PTI) Bihar chief post masterr general Anil Kumar has died of COVID, yet another high ranking official succumbing to the deadly virus in the state.

The officer was undergoing treatment for coronavirus at AIIMS Patna for past few days where he breathed his last at around 1:40 am late last night, sources in the hospital said Saturday.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar condoled death of the chief post master general of the state due to COVID.

Mumbai, May 2 (PTI) Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla has said he will return to India from London in a few days.

Poonawalla made the announcement soon after he spoke out about the pressures he was under over the production of COVID-19 vaccines to meet the ever-increasing demand in India as the country battles through a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.