Coronavirus live updates | Delta and its sublineages reduce Covaxin antibodies: ICMR study

The governing body of the IMF has approved a $650 billion expansion in the agency’s resources to support economically vulnerable countries battling the pandemic and the economic downturn it has caused.

The country saw a single-day rise of 30,549 COVID-19 cases, and 422 fatalities pushing the the case tally to 3,17,26,507, and death toll to 4,25,195, the Union Health Ministry said.

You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.

Here are the latest updates:

‘Submit school staff vaccination data’

Declining to issue any specific direction on reopening of schools due to the possible third wave of COVID-19 being anticipated by experts, the High Court of Karnataka on Monday directed the State government to submit data of vaccination of both the teaching and non-teaching of staff working in government and aided schools.

It observed that the process of vaccinating all stakeholders involved in day-to-day running of schools would help in boosting the confidence level of parents as well as staff of the schools as and when the authorities take a call on the reopening.

A Division Bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice P. Krishna Bhat issued the direction while hearing a PIL petition filed by Radha M. and others seeking direction to supply cooked midday meals to students.

Street vendors must get jab, says Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Monday remarked that street vendors should take proactive steps to get vaccinated so that the third wave of COVID-19 could be avoided in the Capital.

Justice Rekha Palli also asked the Delhi government to consider allowing more weekly markets to operate as “there is a strata of society that only purchases things from these markets since they cannot afford other shops”.

Currently, the Delhi government has allowed weekly markets to open but only with 50% of vendors, and one market in each municipal zone.

Covishield first dose back after a break

Covishield vaccine was available on Monday in Delhi for people who wanted to take the first dose after a break, but only in a limited number of slots.

On July 22, due to a shortage of vaccines, the Delhi government had ordered that Covishield would be available only for people who need the second dose of the vaccine till July 31.

On August 1, the government issued a new order that 20% of Covishield slots will now be available for the first dose and 80% will be reserved for the second dose.

DK stops testing at border for people entering State

The Dakshina Kannada district administration on Monday morning stopped RT-PCR testing facility at 12 border checkposts, including at Talapady, saying their hands were full with containing COVID-19 in the district.

Those entering Karnataka from Kerala should bring COVID-19 negative certificates not older than 72 hours on their own, Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra said. The action led to traffic blocks and protests at Talapady on NH 66 for a while.

The administration had made COVID-19 negative certificate mandatory for people from Kerala entering into Karnataka even if they had taken two doses of vaccine with effect from Sunday. The testing facility at Talapady was functional since February 18. Over 22,000 samples were tested with a daily average of 500 tests, according to Mangaluru Tahsildar Guruprasad.

Institutional quarantine for arrivals from Kerala, Maharashtra without negative RT-PCR report

Starting this week, people from Kerala and Maharashtra entering the city without RT-PCR negative reports must undergo institutional quarantine till they receive their COVID-19 test report.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta on Monday said that separate teams have been deployed at major bus stops and railway stations to screen the large number of people coming from Kerala and Maharashtra.

“It is mandatory for migrants from both States to submit the RT-PCR negative reports obtained within 72 hours. If the RT-PCR test is not submitted, the health care team will collect swabs for tests and the travellers will remain in institutional quarantine until the report is received,” he said, adding that mandatory checks are being conducted on people arriving at airports and checkposts.

150 limit for weddings, no crowds at religious events, says CM

Stressing the need for greater awareness about the importance of vaccination and COVID-appropriate behaviour, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy ordered that not more than 150 people should be allowed to attend marriages and religious events to have no crowds at all in order to check the spread of the pandemic.

He instructed the officials to give priority to vaccinating people aged above 45 years and pregnant women, and teachers keeping in view the planned reopening of schools on August 16, and to expedite the development works in hospitals under the Nadu-Nedu programme.

Addressing a meeting on COVID containment measures and the implementation of Nadu-Nedu in hospitals on Monday, Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted the COVID protocols to be strictly followed and comprehensive guidelines issued on the overall situation arising from the pandemic. He suggested that only RT-PCR tests be done to achieve accurate results and to continue the fever surveys.

Rapid RT-PCR test lab by next week at airport

Chennai airport will get a rapid RT-PCR test facility, which will provide results to passengers in 13 minutes, by next week.

Officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said they had been in talks with the State government for a few weeks now to get approval and start this facility at the earliest because those heading to Middle Eastern countries must have a test report.

“We recently got the nod from the State government to set this up. We have spoken to the company which is in the process of gathering resources and equipment to start the facility. There are a few logistic issues, and it will be ironed out by the end of this week. We will begin by next week,” an official said.

Two months on, beer sales see big jump in July

After two months of slump in beer sales due to COVID-19 induced lockdown, July saw a huge increase by 7.94 lakh carton boxes over the corresponding period of last year.

As against 12.62 lakh carton boxes sold in July 2020, 20.56 lakh carton boxes of beer were sold this July.

According to statistics shared by the Excise Department, the sale of beer had slumped by 4.62 lakh carton boxes and 9.55 lakh carton boxes in May and June respectively in comparison to the corresponding period last year. While 7.67 lakh carton boxes had been sold in May, 11.99 lakh carton boxes were sold in June this year.

Beer sales had dropped drastically during the two-month period as the window of sale was limited to morning hours, and also pubs and bars had remained shut during the stringent lockdown.

Schools, PU colleges unlikely to reopen soon

With the spurt in the number of COVID-19 cases in pockets of the State, the government, which was considering reopening schools, is likely to make a U-turn.

Experts who were part of the committee formed by the government to recommend several issues, including reopening of schools, had suggested that all classes – from Class I to II PU – reopen from August 1. The Commissioner for Public Instruction (CPI), heading the committee, tweaked the report to say high school classes should be allowed to start from the second week of August and the lower classes, after a week.

IMF approves big increase in funds to alleviate pandemic impact

The 190-nation lending institution said on Monday, that its Board of Governors approved the expansion of its reserves known as Special Drawing Rights, the largest increase in the institution’s history.

“This is a historic decision … and a shot in the arm for the global economy at a time of unprecedented crisis,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. “It will particularly help our most vulnerable countries struggling to cope with the impact of the COVID-19 crisis.”

The general allocation of SDRs will become effective on Aug. 23. The IMF said that the new reserves will be credited to IMF member countries in proportion to their existing quotas with the agency. About $275 billion of the new allocation will go to the world’s poorer countries.

Delta and its sublineages reduce Covaxin antibodies: ICMR study

Antibodies produced in response to Covaxin were reduced when tested against the Delta variant and its sublineages but continued to be high enough to remain protective, according to a study by scientists at the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology.

The antibodies were collected from fully vaccinated individuals, some of whom had reported breakthrough infections, and yet others who had recovered from COVID-19 and tested in the laboratory against lab-cultured coronavirus variants belonging to the Delta, AY.1 and AY.3 lineages.

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