India recorded 46,232 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the the country’s total to 90,50,597. The toll rose to 1,32,726 with 564 more deaths. The number of active cases stood at 4,39,747. As many as 84,78,124 people have recovered from the disease so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a review meeting on India’s Covid-19 vaccination strategy. Modi said that the progress of vaccine development, regulatory approvals and procurement were discussed.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij was on Friday administered a trial dose of Bharat Biotech’s potential coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, becoming the first volunteer in the state for its third phase trial. The 67-year old senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader was administered the dose at the Civil Hospital in Haryana’s Ambala Cantonment area. Civil Surgeon Dr Kuldeep Singh told reporters that the vaccine was given successfully.
Meanwhile, the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh governments imposed night curfews in various districts starting from the next day. In Gujarat, the curfew is in Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara from 9 pm to 6 am. In Madhya Pradesh, the curfew is imposed in Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Vidisha and Ratlam districts from 10 pm to 6 am.
The Maharashtra government is considering stopping train and flight services between Mumbai and Delhi in view of the sharp rise in number of coronavirus cases in the national Capital. A final decision on the matter is yet to be taken. “There are very limited train and flight services currently operating between Delhi and Mumbai,” said Maharashtra Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar. “The decision to either curtail the number of services or stop them entirely will be taken in due course.”
Meanwhile, national Capital Delhi added 205 intensive care unit beds and 116 oxygenated beds on Friday, NDTV reported. As many as 120 ventilators were also given to various hospitals.
On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that the coronavirus positivity rate in the Capital has dipped by 5% in five days, attributing the decline to the measures taken by his government in the fight against the infection. He said pollution was a leading factor in the Capital’s third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Globally, the number of cases stood at more than 5.75 crore, while more than 13.7 lakh people have died due to the pandemic, according to John Hopkins University data.
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