Here are the updates from Wednesday:

  1. The Kerala High Court on Wednesday said the test positivity rate in the state was increasing because isolation protocols were not being enforced properly, reported PTI. The High Court added that preventing crowding or imposing a full lockdown were the only options to check the spread of the coronavirus disease.
  2. India on Wednesday reported 38,353 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total tally of infections to 3,20,36,511 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll increased to 4,29,179, with the country reporting 497 deaths in the past 24 hours.
  3. The Maharashtra government said that citizens who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus can enter malls as it relaxed the coronavirus-related restrictions in the state. The government announced a slew of relaxations that will take be applicable from August 15.
  4. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Centre had sent a mail to the Delhi government seeking details of deaths due to shortages of medical oxygen in the national capital during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. This came a day after Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia claimed that his government has not received any such letter.
  5. The Drugs Controller General of India has approved a study on mixing Covid-19 vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. In July, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s Subject Expert Committee had recommended allowing the institute to conduct the study.
  6. The Union health ministry clarified that no new variant of the coronavirus was detected in Kerala and that around 88% to 90% cases in the state were due to the Delta variant, reported the Hindustan Times. 
  7. Mariangela Simao, the assistant director-general for vaccines in the World Health Organisation, said that the agency expects to take a decision next month on granting emergency authorisation to Bharat Biotech Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, reported AP. 
  8. Around 250 children have tested positive for the coronavirus infection between August 5 and August 10 in Bengaluru, the Hindustan Times report, citing data from the city’s civic body, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike.
  9. World health organisation’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan on Tuesday said that reopening of schools must be prioritised while maintaining proper health and hygiene as the the pandemic continues to prevail, reported the Hindustan Times.
  10. Globally, Covid-19 has infected 20,39,80,078 people and led to 43.14 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, as per a count by the John Hopkins University.