Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Delhi Reports 1,520 New Covid Cases, 1 Death; Positivity Rate at 5.10%

The first dose of Sputnik V vaccine can be administered as the precaution dose to all those vaccinated with the Russian Covid-19 jab, an NTAGI panel has recommended, official sources told PTI on Saturday.

Delhi Reports 1,520 New Covid Cases, 1 Death. The Positivity Rate stood at 5.10%

Carrying a negative Covid report or vaccination certificate is not mandatory for pilgrims coming to Uttarakhand for this year’s Char Dham Yatra, a senior government official said on Saturday. However, it will be compulsory for them to register on the tourism department’s portal before setting out on the pilgrimage, Chief Secretary S S Sandhu said after holding a meeting with officials Friday night to discuss the yatra and how to conduct it successfully. Checking pilgrims coming from outside the state for a negative Covid report or vaccination certificate will not be mandatory till further orders, Sandhu said.

Over 60% of youngsters between the 12-14 age group have received the 1st dose of #COVID19 vaccine. Congratulations to all my young friends who got vaccinated. We all are proud of you! Let’s continue this momentum! tweeted Mansukh Mandaviya.

Puducherry registered one fresh COVID-19 case on Saturday, pushing the overall caseload to 1,65,789 while no fresh fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours. The one new infection was detected after the examination of 118 samples, Director of Health G Sriramulu said in a release.

China’s Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co said its COVID-19 vaccine candidate using the messenger RNA (mRNA) technology and targeting the Omicron variant has obtained clinical trial approval in the United Arab Emirates. With Friday’s announcement, Abogen joins Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in trialing candidates modified specifically against Omicron, a highly transmissible variant with increased resistance to antibodies elicited by existing shots.

The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) may recommend conducting a serosurvey among children to check the antibody levels before taking the final decision to start vaccinating those aged 5-12 years for Covid, News18.com has learnt. READ MORE

The health department in Bengaluru is on high alert after the city reported more than 100 Covid-19 cases on a daily basis since the last seven days. Fresh Covid cases were reported from Bellandur, Hagadur, Varthur, HSR Layout, Doddanekkundi and Koramangala, localities which have high density populations especially software professionals. Major IT companies are also located in these areas. Bengaluru is in second place in terms of infections in the country and the infection rate is 0.09 per cent and fatality rate is zero.

Shanghai said it detected no new COVID-19 cases outside quarantine areas for Friday, hitting a key milestone in its battle to contain the virus, which has paralysed the city of 25 million and seen Beijing scramble to avert a similar crisis. Scenes of homes and buildings in China’s most populous city being caged to prevent residents from leaving have grabbed global headlines in recent weeks at a time when most other major cities in the world are learning to live with coronavirus. Some residents, who have been cooped up at home for more than a month, leading to anger and frustration, have struggled to find food and other daily necessities, and shown rare public opposition to the government’s stringent controls.

With the addition of 12 coronavirus positive cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 7,09,035, an official said on Saturday. These cases were reported on Friday. As the virus claimed the life of one person during the day, the death toll in the district stood at 11,893, he said, adding that Thane’s mortality rate is 1.67 per cent. In neighboring Palghar district, the caseload stood at 1,63,612, while the death toll is 3,407, another official said.

Poland will downgrade its classification of the Covid-19 pandemic in mid-May, recognising an epidemic threat instead, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski has announced. Niedzielski told the Polish Press Agency that the decision had been discussed at various government levels, and was made “through a legal analysis”. Poland formally declared Covid-19 a full epidemic on March 20, 2020, giving the government powers to enact national restrictions to limit the spread of the virus, Xinhua news agency reported.

Chhattisgarh on Friday reported four fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the overall tally to 11,52,263, while no new death related to the infection was registered in the state, an official said. The death toll remained unchanged at 14,034. The positivity rate, or cases detected per 100 tests, stood at 0.09 per cent, he said. The recovery count in Chhattisgarh rose to 11,38,196 after one more person completed the home isolation period during the day, leaving the state with 33 active cases, he said.

The active COVID-19 cases in West Bengal on Friday jumped by 34 to 335, the Health Department said. The state reported 52 new cases, taking the tally to 20,18,205. The toll remained at 21,201 with no fresh deaths registered, it said. At present, there are 309 patients in home isolation and 26 undergoing treatment at different hospitals, it added. In the last 24 hours, 18 patients recovered. The new cases were detected after testing 12,174 samples.

Singapore has confirmed two COVID-19 cases with the new Omicron subvariant BA.2.12.1 through active monitoring of the disease and genetic sequencing for surveillance, the Channel News Asia reported. The two community cases were detected as part of the authorities’ active monitoring of the COVID-19 situation and genetic sequencing for surveillance, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) in its daily update on Thursday (April 28) night.

Telangana on Friday recorded 32 new COVID-19 cases taking the statewide tally to 7,91,978. Hyderabad reported the highest number of cases with 19. A health department bulletin said 22 people recuperated from the infection and the cumulative number of recoveries till date was 7,87,561. The recovery rate stood at 99.44 per cent.

Tamil Nadu on Friday recorded 54 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the total caseload in the state to 34,53,883. The death toll remained unchanged at 38,025 with nil fatalities being recorded in the last 24 hours, the health department said. Among those tested positive include 28 men and 26 women. Recoveries increased to 34,15,351 with 35 more people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, leaving 507 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

Maharashtra reported 148 new coronavirus infections and two pandemic-related fatalities on Friday, which took its caseload to 78,77,577 and death toll to 1,47,842, a health department report said. The state witnessed a slight dip in new cases as compared to Thursday when it had reported 165 new cases and two fatalities.

With the addition of 34 new cases of COVID-19, the tally of infections in Madhya Pradesh rose to 10,41,414 on Friday, an official from the state health department said. At least 11 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recoveries to 10,30,561, while the toll stood at 10,735 as no casualties were reported in the last 24 hours, the official said.