India’s daily Covid-19 cases remained below 5,000 on Saturday with 3,614 people testing positive in the past 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data.
India’s daily Covid-19 cases remained below 5,000 on Saturday with 3,614 people testing positive in the past 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry data. The country’s cumulative infection tally has risen to 42,987,875.
India has also administered 179.9 crore vaccine doses, including 91.9 crore first doses and 77.8 crore second does, according to the latest reports.
Here are the latest coronavirus updates of the day:
CHINA CITY UNDER LOCKDOWN
China’s ‘zero-Covid- approach to the pandemic has led to the administration of Changchun in the country’s northeast being ordered to lock down following a recent spurt in cases. The city’s nine million residents have been ordered to work from home. The government has also announced that it would soon begin mass testing.
Changchun, in north-eastern China, is the capital of Jilin province and an important industrial base. China’s Covid-19 cases crossed 1,000 this week for the first time since the pandemic’s early days in 2020.
CENTRE REJECTS CLAIMS THAT DEATHS EIGHT TIMES HIGHER
A study in the Lancet journal has claimed that India’s estimated cumulative excess deaths due to the pandemic between January 2020 and December 2021 was the highest at 4.07 million, eight times higher than reported. However, the Union Health Ministry has called the analysis “speculative and misinformed”, adding that the authors had admitted to several methodology flaws and inconsistencies.
US CONGRESS MEMBERS URGE VACCINE COLLABORATION WITH INDIA
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the US has urged President Joe Biden to launch a vaccine collaboration with India to end the pandemic. In a letter dated March 10, the Caucus members requested the US to lead distribution of low-cost vaccines to low-income countries that had low vaccination rates. They urged Biden to use the two vaccines resulting from India-US collaborations and end vaccine inequity through Covovax and Corbevax.
mRNA VACCINE
Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, which is developing India’s first mRNA vaccine, has submitted the final trial data to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), reports suggest. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his speech at the recent 76th United Nations General Assembly, had said the vaccine was in the final stages.
ZERO COVID-19 DEATHS IN TAMIL NADU
Tamil Nadu reported zero Covid-19 deaths on Friday with cases also gradually decreasing, Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said. However, he warned that people should continue following all safety protocols until the next advice from health experts. He also appealed to Tamil Nadu residents to get their vaccine doses.
PM HAILS POLICE SERVICE DURING COVID-19
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an address in Gandhinagar, hailed the police for its service to people during the pandemic. “We have seen during the Covid pandemic, many policemen in uniform gave food and medicines to the needy during the lockdown. People saw the humane face of the police,” he said.
THIRD OF US CHILD COVID-19 DEATHS FROM OMICRON
A third of all child deaths from Covid-19 in the US occurred during the Omicron surge. Children seemed to be at increasing risks of contracting the virus even as mask mandates are being dropped across the US and vaccination rates among children plateau. Since the beginning of 2022, 550 children in the US have died from Covid-19 against 1,017 children in the 22 months preceding it, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed.