The phase-I human clinical trial of India's first indigenously-developed vaccine against novel coronavirus, Covaxin, began at the AIIMS here on Friday with the first dose of the injection given to a man, who is in his 30s.
Already, over 3,500 volunteers have already registered themselves for the trial at AIIMS since last Saturday, of whom the screening of at least 22 people is underway, Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor at the Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS and the principal investigator of the study, said.
Meanwhile, India reported the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 49,310 people testing positive in the last 24 hours. The country also recorded 740 deaths in the time span.
Total COVID-19 positive cases stand at 12,87,945 including 4,40,135 active cases, 8,17,209 cured/discharged/migrated and 30,601 deaths., as per the Health Ministry data on Friday.
In a new high, Tamil Nadu recorded 6,472 new Covid-19 positive cases, while a whopping 60,375 tests were also conducted on the day. As many as 88 people succumbed to the infection on Thursday, taking the state’s toll to 3,232.
The COVID-19 tally of cases in Uttarakhand rose to 5,717 on Friday with 272 more people getting infected in a day, while the death toll climbed to 62 with two more deaths. Two men, in their 40s, who had tested positive for COVID-19 died at AIIMS, Rishikesh, a state health department bulletin said.
There are 340 active cases in the state at present, while 137 patients have recovered.
Since Thursday, 226 patients got discharged in Ghaziabad after treatment, while the number of recoveries in Gautam Buddh Nagar stood at 103, according to the data released by the Uttar Pradesh Health Department for a 24-hour period.
Ahmedabad district in Gujarat recorded 176 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 25,349, the health department said on Friday. Of these new cases, 161 were from Ahmedabad city and 15 from other parts of the district, it said in a statement.
The station in Bilaspur district was sealed on Friday after a policeman posted there tested positive for coronavirus, a senior officer said. The police jawan posted at Gara Maura checkpost on Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border falling under Sarkaghat Police Station tested positive on Thursday.
With second-highest single- day spike of 1,068 new cases, the tally of coronavirus cases in Gujarat rose to 53,631 on Friday, said a release by the state health department. Surat saw a spike of 309 cases, as well as 12 deaths.
Twenty-three more people tested positive for coronavirus in Chandigarh on Friday, taking the number of cases in the state to 823. The fresh cases include four members each of two families in Sector 30 and Sector 19, according to a medical bulletin.
The phase-I human clinical trial of India's first indigenously-developed vaccine against novel coronavirus, Covaxin, began at the AIIMS here on Friday with the first dose of the injection given to a man, who is in his 30s.
"Fourteen people who were COVID-19 positive have died over the past 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir," an official said, adding that one death took place in Jammu and 13 were reported from the Kashmir Valley. This has taken the death toll due to COVID-19 in the Union territory to 296, of which 275 are from the Valley and 21 from the Jammu region, the officials said.
All party meeting was held today to discuss the COVID-19 situation in Kerala. Opposition parties have given their suggestions regarding the containment of the virus, we will consider it: State CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Medical Superintendent of Yashoda Hospital in Secunderabad lost his battle with COVID-19 on Thursday night. Dr Hari Kumar, 72, had been with the hospital for the last 20 years. He is the third doctor from the city to die of COVID-19 after serving on the frontline. Hospital officials said it was not clear how he contracted the virus. He was on duty until he fell sick. “He was a senior RMO on the administrative side. He got admitted with lung infection and pneumonia 15 days ago,” informed an official from the hospital.
Drug firm Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals on Friday said it has launched antiviral drug Favipiravir under the brand name 'Favivent' for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms at a price of Rs 39 per tablet. The tablet will be available in 200 mg strength in the form of a strip of 10 tablets, it added. The drug will be manufactured at a pharmaceutical plant in Telangana with the highest safety and manufacturing protocols in place, Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals said in a statement.
Aavin saidit has begun the initiative to increase the sales of its milk products besides supporting auto and taxi drivers, who are struggling to make ends meet amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Auto and call taxi drivers can now use their vehicles as ‘mobile outlets’ for Aavin, it said in a statement. A month ago, the state-owned Aavin, also known Tamilnadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (TCMPF), reduced the deposit for agents from Rs 10,000 to 1000.
Over 10 crore free cooking gas (LPG) cylinders were supplied to poor households under the government's COVID-19 relief package between April and June, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) said on Friday. To overcome the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government had announced a relief package under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) comprising free ration, cooking gas, and cash to certain vulnerable sections.
Abhijeet said, "Dhruv was planning to travel abroad, and since there is a rule to get tested for coronavirus before travelling, he went for a voluntary test. He is asymptomatic. He has just a little cold and cough. He has quarantined himself at home and is taking all the precautions. There is nothing to worry."
353 new COVID19 positive cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir today- 129 from Jammu division and 224 from Kashmir division. The total number of cases stands at 16,782 including 7,269 actives cases, 9,217 recoveries and 296 deaths: Government of J&K
Task Force Committee revises rates for RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Testing to be charged by private labs. RT-PCR testing to cost Rs 2000/test and Rapid Antigen testing for pvt samples to cost Rs 700/sample. Costs inclusive of the price of PPE kit: Government of Karnataka
No flight to operate to and from Kolkata on July 25 and 29 due to total lockdown: NSCBI Airport sources
Nagaland Government exempts Department of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, and staff of Guwahati High Court, Kohima Bench from 'total lockdown' of Kohima Municipal area under Kohima Sadar jurisdiction from 25th July to 31st July.
Announcing the decision, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patro said that after MLA Sukanta Nayak was infected with Covid-19, swab samples of all employees were collected for testing. Out of them, five have tested positive, he said. Nayak had attended a standing committee meeting of Assembly in the first week of July. However, all other MLAs, who attended the meeting, have tested negative.
The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the ICMR to come out with a clarification that mobile number, government issued identity card, photographs or even a residential proof ought not be insisted upon for COVID-19 test of mentally ill homeless persons.
Secondary health screening at the final destination state, deployment of additional health personnel for triage in the arrival area and for health checkup in the departure area were some of the key issues reviewed by Bhalla along with top officials of the Ministries of Health, Civil Aviation and Bureau of Immigration, a home ministry official said.
Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation mayor quarantines self after seven staffer test positive for coronavirus.
Pregnant women officers/workers and women officers/workers who were diagnosed with critical illness to be exempted from coming to office, in wake of COVID19: General Administration Department, Maharashtra Government
'Janta Curfew' to be imposed in Nagpur city on July 25 and 26; essential services to remain functional: Tukaram Mundhe, Nagpur Municipal Commissioner
The cabinet deemed the amendments to the Factories Act, Industrial Disputes Act and Contract Labour Act a necessity to ensure 'ease of doing business' but labour unions say it's a violation of labour rights, leaving workers in the lurch during the COVID-19 lockdown.
1820 new COVID cases have been reported in Bihar, taking the total number of cases to 33511: State Health Department
The total number of positive COVID-19 cases in Puducherry rises to 2513, including 996 active cases, 1483 discharged and 34 deaths: Government
According to the state health department, going by the current trend of people testing positive and the projections, there is a chance that the facilities in some areas might get exhausted. These coaches can be used to augment capacities for isolation of both the suspect and confirmed cases. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The woman, Suchitra Das, a resident of Suryamaninagar village of West Tripura district, had tested positive for COVID-19 four days ago during pregnancy check-up at the Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital in Agartala. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The BMC, which is spearheading Mumbai's fight against coronavirus, on Thursday made a special appeal to citizens in this regard ahead of the festival to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the metropolis, which has recorded more than 1 lakh cases and nearly 6,000 deaths so far. Besides public installation of Lord Ganesh idols, thousands of people install such idols at home and immerse them on different days during the 10-day festival, the most popular religious event in Maharashtra. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Lockdown to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 will remain imposed in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh from 7 pm on Friday to 5 am on Monday. District Magistrate of Jabalpur Bharat Yadav said that essential services, dairy, medical stores, petrol pumps, gas agencies will remain open. General stores, fruit, vegetable shops and private offices shall remain closed. The official has informed that vehicles being used for health emergency services will be allowed to operate. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
Ramped-up Covid-19 testing is revealing what has been feared in Uttar Pradesh: the state has registered a huge jump of around 145 per cent in coronavirus cases this month, registering 58,117 cases till Thursday, with the highest single-day spike of 2,529 cases. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
There’s a nagging feeling that Pinarayi Vijayan's government, praised for its initial response to the viral outbreak and seemingly content with its brief moment of glory, may have been guilty of slackening the vigil, ignoring the three key requirements to win a marathon—endurance, perseverance and patience. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
The state's tally breached the 50,000-mark on Thursday with a record 2,436 new cases reported in 24 hours, as per the state health department. The state's total number of cases was at 51,757, following the detection of fresh infections, it said.
The tally of COVID-19 cases in Telangana crossed 50,000 on Thursday with 1,567 new cases being reported. The number of deaths rose to 447 after nine more people died of the virus. Of the 1,567 cases, 662 were reported from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits.
SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre started screening volunteers for the trials on Monday.
(READ FULL REPORT HERE)This is for the first time that Goa government is allowing asymptomatic patients to be home quarantined, who were earlier shifted to COVID care centres.
Patna now accounts for 35 casualties, the highest for any district in the state, followed by Bhagalpur (19), Gaya (13), Darbhanga (10) and Muzaffarpur, East Champaran, Rohtas and Saran (10 each). The infection tally, meanwhile, rose to 31,691, an increase of more than 1600 since the previous day.
Casualties in Rajasthan rose to 594 after 11 more people succumbed to the disease on Thursday, while 889 fresh cases pushed the state's tally to 33,220, the health department said.
Geetha Jeevan, the DMK MLA from Thoothukudi, and two members of her family are among the 415 people to test positive for Covid-19 in Thoothukudi district on Thursday.