Health

Kathmandu, Apr 5 (PTI) Nepal will start its second phase of the COVID-19 inoculation drive from April 7 using a China-donated vaccine to fight against the deadly infection, according to the health ministry.

The first phase of the vaccination drive began in January with the one million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine provided by India under grant assistance in sync with its 'Neighbourhood First' policy.

New Delhi, Apr 5 (PTI) India recorded an all-time high of 103,558 coronavirus infections in a day pushing the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 12,589,067, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The single-day rise in cases surpassed the earlier peak of 97,894 infections reported on September 17, last year, making it the highest since the pandemic began in India, while the death toll increased to 165,101 with 478 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

04 Apr 2021; MEMO: Turkey has so far administered more than 16.6 million coronavirus vaccine jabs across the country, the nation's health minister announced on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.

"Among the countries which have yet to produce their own vaccine, Turkey stands as one of the states that conducts the most jabs," Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Mumbai, Apr 4 (PTI) Superstar Akshay Kumar on Sunday said he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is under home quarantine.

The 53-year-old actor took to Twitter to share his diagnosis and said he is following all the necessary protocols.

SANTIAGO, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean Ministry of Health announced on Saturday that it will strengthen the search for new variants of COVID-19, with the genomic sequencing of 500 samples a week to investigate the cause of the new wave of infections that is affecting the country.

"So far, the Brazilian and the British variants have been detected in Chile. We were doing 176 sequences a week and, for next week, we are going to sequence 500 samples to try to search for any new or strange strains that may explain the increase in cases," said Minister of Health Enrique Paris.

WASHINGTON, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The United States is seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, including cases from new and emerging COVID-19 variants, as experts are concerned about another surge amid the spring break.

COVID-19 cases in the country were steadily decreasing for approximately 10 weeks. However, trends are changing, and cases have increased during the past 12 days, according to data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Beijing, Apr 2 (AP-PTI) A Chinese border city hit by a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 began a five-day drive Friday to vaccinate its entire population of 300,000 people.

State broadcaster CCTV showed people lining up and getting vaccinated in Ruili, where 16 cases have been confirmed since Tuesday. Twelve of them are Chinese and the other four are nationals of Myanmar, which lies across the border.

A city Communist Party official told CCTV the previous day that 159,000 doses of vaccine had arrived in the city.

New Delhi, Apr 1 (PTI) India launched COVID-19 vaccination for all people aged 45 and above from Thursday as the country reported this year's highest single day rise of 72,330 new infections in a span of 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally of cases to 1,22,21,665.

Seeking to exponentially expand the countrywide anti-coronavirus inoculation drive, the Centre has decided to keep all public and private sector COVID-19 vaccination centres (CVCs) operational throughout April, including on gazetted holidays.

01 Apr 2021; MEMO: Turkish tour firms have begun organising vaccination tours to Russia for those who do not want to wait to receive the inoculation, Turkish daily newspaper Hurriyet reports.

According to the paper, tours include a visit to Moscow, accommodation, flights and the vaccination. A certificate is also given to those who received the inoculation

01 Apr 2021; MEMO: War-torn Yemen received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine yesterday, UNICEF said, one week after the country's coronavirus committee warned of a public health "emergency".