Coronavirus: West Bengal, Punjab, J&K report biggest single-day rise in cases

10.28 pm: Punjab reports a record 8,874 cases of infection, taking the tally to 4,16,350 since the coronavirus outbreak started last year, reports PTI. With 154 more fatalities, the toll has risen to 9,979, according to a medical bulletin.

10.18 pm: Jammu and Kashmir reports the biggest daily rise of 4,926 coronavirus and 52 deaths, according to PTI. The total number of coronavirus cases rose to 2.02 lakh since the pandemic began last year. The toll rises to 2,562.

10.05 pm: Maharashtra records 62,194 new coronavirus cases, taking its cumulative tally to 49,42,736 since the pandemic broke out last year, reports PTI. The toll rose by 853 to 73,515.

Mumbai accounts for 3,028 new cases, taking the tally to 6,68,085. The toll rises to 13,580 with 69 more deaths.

10 pm: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao says no lockdown will be imposed in the state despite the worsening coronavirus crisis, reports ANI.

9.55 pm: The Northern Railways has cancelled a slew of Rajdhanis, Shatabdis, and Vande Bharat Express trains due to rising coronavirus cases and poor occupancy, reports PTI.

9.29 pm: Fauci tells News18 that the two virus variants in India have increased transmission capability, in comparison to the one detected in China’s Wuhan a year ago.

9.25 pm: United States’ top infection disease expert Anthony Fauci tells News18 that the coronavirus situation in India is “very serious”. He also says other countries should help India and show solidarity.

9.16 pm: West Bengal reports 117 deaths – the highest so far in a single day since the pandemic began last year, reports PTI. The toll jumps to 11,964. The total cases rises to 9,35,066 after the state registers a record one-day increase of 18,431 fresh infections.

8.32 pm: Bangladesh supplies more than 10,000 vials of antiviral injection remdesivir to India, PTI reports. “Bangladesh stands in solidarity with its close neighbour India at this critical moment and Dhaka is ready to provide and mobilise support in every possible way to save lives there,” the country’s foreign ministry says.

8.25 pm: The central government has reduced the supply of liquid medical oxygen that Maharashtra receives from Karnataka by 50 metric tonnes, health minister Rajesh Tope says, according to PTI. “It will have severe impact on the ongoing treatment of COVID-19 patients in Maharashtra,” he says. “It is necessary to raise the issue with the Union health ministry and other officials concerned.”

8.20 pm: Karnataka reports 49,058 new coronavirus cases and 328 deaths in a day, ANI reports. The state now had a total of 17,90,104 cases while its toll is 17,212. There are 5,17,075 active cases in the state.

Of this, Bengaluru Urban reported as many as 23,706 cases and 139 deaths in a day. The city now has 8,87,086 cases and 7,145 deaths.

6.27 pm: Kerala reports 42,464 new cases and 63 deaths in a day, according to ANI. The state now has 3,90,906 active cases and 5,628 deaths.

6.25 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 26,780 cases and 353 deaths in a day, ANI reports. With this, the state’s total cases rise to 14,25,916, while as many as 14,501 people have died so far.

6.20 pm: Russia has approved a single-dose version of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, ANI reports. The Sputnik Light has “demonstrated 79.4% efficacy”, says the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

6.10 pm: Madhya Pradesh announces a lockdown till May 15, ANI reports. “To break the chain of transmission of corona in the state we have to completely shut everything till May 15, strict ‘Janta Curfew’,” says Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. “We can’t shut things for too long but with more than 18% positivity, we can’t remain open.”

He adds that weddings are super-spreader events and urges people not to hold them in May.

5.38 pm: The Delhi High Court says the moral fabric of the public has been dismantled, as the demand for medical supplies keeps rising amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The court made the observations after taking note of illegal activities, including black-marketing of supplies.

Read more here:

Covid-19: ‘Our moral fabric has been dismembered,’ says Delhi HC on hoarding, black-marketing

5.20 pm: Very infectious Indian strains of the coronavirus are found in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka now, says the Andhra government, according to PTI.

“The major strains identified from the samples of south India (AP, Karnataka, Telangana), from the positives of the April month data, are B.1.617 and B.1, which are very infectious and also spreading in the younger age groups apart from the adults,” AP Covid Command and Control Centre Chairman KS Jawahar Reddy says.

5.15 pm: The Ministry of Civil Aviation issues guidelines to vaccinate everyone in the civil aviation sector. A dedicated vaccination facility should be set up at airports, it says.

4.35 pm: “If we get an adequate supply of oxygen – 700 tonnes – we will be able to set up 9,000 to 9,500 beds in Delhi,” says Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, ANI reports. “We will be able to create oxygen beds. I assure you that we will not let anyone die to a shortage of oxygen in Delhi.”

He also urges all hospitals to increase their bed capacity.

4.10 pm: The Centre moves the Supreme Court against Karnataka High Court order asking it to increase daily liquid medical oxygen allocation for the state to 1,200 metric tonnes instead of 965 metric tonnes, reports PTI.

3.54 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supplying 700 metric tonnes of oxygen, reports NDTV. “Delhi requires 700 metric tonnes of oxygen every day,” Kejriwal said in a letter. “We have been requesting the central government to help arrange the same. For the first time yesterday [Wednesday], Delhi received 730 MT of oxygen.”

However, at the hearing in Supreme Court, the Delhi government said that the Centre continued to be in contempt for not supplying 700 metric tonnes of oxygen to the city. “People of Delhi are dying and the centre cannot dilute Supreme Court’s orders,” the Delhi government’s lawyer Rahul Mehra says.

3.51 pm: Delhi reports 19,133 new coronavirus cases, pushing the infection tally in the national Capital to 12,73,035 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll climbs by 335 to 18,398. The daily positivity rate is 24.29%.

2.17 pm: Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital Director and Medical Superintendent Dr Rana AK Singh says the facility has added 200 more oxygen beds. “We also have 24 ICU [intensive care unit] beds for Covid-19 patients. We will also convert 22 oxygen beds into ICUs,” he adds, according to ANI.

1.46 pm: The Delhi High Court begins hearing pleas related to various matter, including oxygen supply, due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, reports ANI.

The High Court adds that information on Tocilizumab medicine should be made available on the portal with transparency.

1.42 pm: The Union Health Ministry says no oxygen concentrators, received as foreign aid, is with the Customs authorities at any port as these consignments are being cleared immediately.

1.38 pm: In upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district, 90 workers and staff of a tea garden have tested positive for Covid-19, reports NDTV. The district administration has now declare the area a containment zone.

12.31 pm: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta tells Supreme Court unloading of oxygen tankers in Delhi was taking too long, reports News18.

12.29 pm: Supreme Court tells Centre it is not just about handling the oxygen crisis, but a plan for logistics is also needed, reports NDTV.

12.18 pm: Supreme Court tells Centre its formula for oxygen allocation to Delhi is a gross underestimate, reports NDTV. The court also tells Centre to plan for a third wave of the pandemic.

12.16 pm: Congress President Sonia Gandhi to hold a meeting with the party’s MPs on Friday to discuss the pandemic situation in the country, reports ANI.

11.51 am: Kerala government imposes complete lockdown in state from May 8 to May 16 in view of the coronavirus situation, reports PTI.

10.46 am: The Ministry of Finance says there are no consignment of 3,000 oxygen concentrators pending with the Custom authorities, reports ANI.

10.44 am: Delhi Government says all residents in need of oxygen for home isolation can apply for it on delhi.gov.in with a valid photo ID, Aadhaar card details and a coronavirus positive report.

10.32 am: The Unites States reissues its travel advisory on India, urging Americans not to travel to the country due to an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases, reports PTI. The US had issued a travel warning earlier on April 28. Both of them has been marked ‘’Level 4’’, the highest warning level.

9.31 am: India records highest-ever rise in daily cases of coronavirus, with 4,12,262 new infections in the last 24 hours, shows government data. The country’s tally stands at 2,10,77,410. With 3,980 deaths, the toll rises to 23,01,68.

8.49 am: Chhattisgarh government postpones vaccination for the 18 to 45 age group following objections from the High Court over its vaccination policy, reports The Indian Express.

8.46 am: Joe Biden administration in the United States on Wednesday announces support for waiving patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines.

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8.44 am: A writ petition seeking Z plus security for Serum Institute of India chef Adar Poonawalla and his family has been filed in the Bombay High Court, reports ANI. He has already been provided with Y category security cover.

8.40 am: Less than 2% of the over 3.5 crore citizens in the 18-44 age group who have registered for the coronavirus vaccine since April 28, have received the jab so far, reports News18.

8.37 am: Virologist Gagandeep Kang says the second wave of coronavirus pandemic in India may begin to start tapering between the middle and end of May, reports The Hindu.

8.33 am: Here are the top updates from Wednesday:

• India on Wednesday registered 3,82,315 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 2,06,65,148 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll climbed by 3,780 to 2,26,188.
• Principal scientific advisor to the Union government, K Vijay Raghavan, warned that a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic was inevitable.
• The Supreme Court stayed a Delhi High Court contempt notice to the Centre for failure to implement an order on immediate supply of full quota of oxygen to the Capital city during the coronavirus crisis.
• West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to allocate greater quantities of medical oxygen and vaccines to the states