Health

New Delhi, Apr 11 (PTI) The active COVID-19 cases in India breached the 11 lakh-mark (1.1 million) for the first time after a record high of 1.52 lakh (150,000) new infections while a massive vaccination push, dubbed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the beginning of another major war against coronavirus, was launched on Sunday in a bid to abate the surge.

The active caseload till now was at its lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12 and at its highest at 10,17,754 on September 18, 2020.

BEIJING (AP) — In a rare admission of the weakness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines, the country’s top disease control official says their effectiveness is low and the government is considering mixing them to give them a boost.

Chinese vaccines “don’t have very high protection rates,” said the director of the China Centers for Disease Control, Gao Fu, at a conference Saturday in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

Beijing has distributed hundreds of millions of doses in other countries while also trying to promote doubt about the effectiveness of Western vaccines.

Srinagar, Apr 8 (PTI) All travellers coming to Kashmir by road shall undergo coronavirus tests in Kulgam district, an official said on Thursday.

Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Aijaz Asad chaired a meeting to review the coronavirus situation, a spokesperson said.

Asad said the testing for travellers coming by road shall be started in Lower Munda area in a couple of days as this would help in containing the spread of virus in the Valley.

New Delhi, Apr 9 (PTI) Ten states -- Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown a steep rise in daily COVID-19 cases accounting for 83.29 per cent of the new infections, the Union Health Ministry said.

India's daily cases continue to rise, the ministry underlined.

A total of 1,31,968 new cases were registered a day, the highest single-day rise recorded so far in the country.

New Delhi, Apr 9 (PTI) India registered a record single-day spike of 131,968 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its infection tally to 13,060,542, while the death toll increased to 167,642 with 780 more fatalities in a day, highest since October 18, the Union Health Ministry data showed.

Registering a steady increase for the 30th day in a row, the number of active COVID-19 cases increased to 979,608, which is 7.5 per cent of the total infections, according to the data updated at 8 am.

05 Apr 2021; MEMO: Oman will only allow citizens and residents to enter the Gulf Arab state from April 8 following an increase in COVID-19 cases that is pressuring the health care system, the country's coronavirus committee said on Monday, Reuters reports.

The committee also extended an evening ban on all commercial activities until the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which is due to start in mid-April this year, according to a statement on state media.

New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) The daily rise in new coronavirus infections in India remained above 90,000 for the third consecutive day taking the nationwide COVID-19 tally of cases to 1,26,86,049, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) More than 43 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in a span 24 hours on April 5, the highest single-day coverage till now, taking the total doses given in the country so far to 8,31,10,926, according to the Union Health Ministry.

As on day-80 of the vaccination drive (April 5), a total 43,00,966 vaccine doses have been given out of which 39,00,505 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 48,095 sessions for 1st dose while 4,00,461 beneficiaries received the 2nd dose, according to the data updated at 7 am.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday submitted a congressional inquiry with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding an HIV outbreak in West Virginia’s largest county.

The West Virginia Democrat asked for the inquiry on behalf of the Kanawha County Commission two months after a CDC official warned that the county’s outbreak was “ the most concerning in the United States.”

Commission President Kent Carper said in a statement that the outbreak “is an important public health issue and is deserving of our full understanding.”

Manila, Apr 5 (AP-PTI) The Philippine government extended a lockdown by another week Monday after an alarming spike in coronavirus infections continued to surge and started to overwhelm many hospitals in the capital and outlying regions.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed Metropolitan Manila and four outlying provinces, a region of more than 25 million people, under lockdown last week as daily infections breached 10,000. Roman Catholic leaders shifted Holy Week and Easter events online after all public gatherings, including in places of worship, were temporarily banned.