Coronavirus in India July 2 Highlights: Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till July 12; UP further relaxes Covid restrictions; Curfew extended in Goa till July 12

Assam reported 2,453 new #COVID19 cases, 2,902 recoveries and 27 deaths today.

Active cases: 23,914
Total recoveries: 4,83,741
Death toll: 4,604 (ANI)

Nagaland Health and Family Welfare (HFW) Department on Friday said 93 cases of Delta variant of COVID-19 have  been detected in the state. These 93 cases were detected from 98 samples sequenced so far. “Results of the sample for Whole Genome Sequencing sent to NIGB, Kalyani, West Bengal have been received by the HFW Department,” said Principal Director of the Department Dr Neikhrielie Khimiao said in a release. (PTI)

Haryana reports 76 new #COVID cases, 148 recoveries and 15 deaths.

Active cases: 1,293
Total recoveries: 7,58,046
Death toll: 9,461 (ANI)

Ten more people died from coronavirus in Punjab on Friday as 200 fresh cases took the state’s infection count to 5,96,094, according to a medical bulletin. So far, the infection has killed 16,086 people in the state. The fresh deaths were reported from districts including Amritsar, Bathinda and Ferozepur. Faridkot and Jalandhar reported 19 infections each, followed by 16 in Amritsar. The state currently has 2,752 active cases with the positivity rate of 0.42 per cent. With 390 recoveries, the number of cured persons reached 5,77,256, it said. There are 102 critical patients who are on ventilator while 1,478 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said. A total of 1,09,95,612 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state, it said. (PTI)

Gujarat reported 80 COVID-19 cases and 228 recoveries in the last 24 hours, while the period also saw two patients succumbing to the infection in Ahmedabad and Arvalli districts, an official said on Friday. The tally in the state is 8,23,687 and the toll is 10,064, while the number of people who have been discharged stands at 8,10,979, which is 98.46 per cent of the caseload, he said. The state has 2,644 active cases, including 10 patients on ventilator, the official informed. “Surat led with 18 new cases, followed by 15 in Ahmedabad city, five in Amreli etc,” he said. A release said 2,62,11,578 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far in the state, including 2.48 lakh during the day. (PTI)

The number of COVID-19 cases in Nashik reached 3,94,816 on Friday after 201 people were detected with the infection, while the day also saw four deaths and 238 people getting discharged, an official said. The district’s toll stands at 8,358 and the recovery count is 3,84,056, he said. With 9,410 samples being examined in the last 24 hours, the number of tests in Nashik went up to 19,92,050, the official added. (PTI)

The UNICEF in collaboration with the Odisha Health Department organised a virtual media sensitisation programme for three tribal districts for generating awareness on COVID appropriate behaviour and the benefits of vaccination in fighting against coronavirus. Concerned over the awareness level in the tribal districts of Rayagada, Koraput, and Malkangiri due to geographic challenges, literacy rate and misconceptions related to the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, the panel on Thursday stressed the need for the media to play a positive role to highlight the facts and reinforce peoples belief in the vaccine, a statement said. Anil Patnaik of UNICEF Odisha said only five per cent of the people were getting severely affected due to a weaker immune system. “People with comorbidities and immunodeficiency, and senior citizens may be more vulnerable to COVID-19. In the second wave, it was also evident that more younger people are also getting affected by the viral infection, Patnaik said. (PTI)

Mumbai on Friday reported 676 new coronavirus cases and 27 fresh fatalities, while 546 patients recovered from the infection, the city civic body said. With this,  the tally of COVID-19 cases jumped to 7,23,555, while the death toll increased to 15,499,  according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) updated data. Notably, the city has reported over 20 deaths for three days in a row now. On June 30 and July 1, the financial capital had registered 25 and 21 single-day fatalities, respectively. The city has recorded a marginal rise in the new COVID-19 cases and fatalities as compared to Thursday, when it had logged 661 new cases and 21 deaths. (PTI)

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced easing of more curbs from July 5 and declared uniform relaxations in COVID-19 restrictions across the state, dispensing with the previous region wise regulations. Restrictions that prohibit inter-state public bus servcies, social, political, entertainment, cultural and sport-related gatherings and reopening of schools, colleges, cinemas, bars, swimming pools and zoos would continue to be on till 6 AM on July 12, the government said. Only a maximum of 50 and 20 people would be allowed to participate in wedding events and funerals, respectively. Considering factors like fall in COVID-19 cases and the state’s economy, relaxations would be the same across Tamil Nadu from Monday, the government said. The fresh relaxations, effective July 5 include extension of time till 8 PM from the previous 7 PM for a variety of retail outlets, shops and all other activities, an official release here said. Intra and inter-district bus services would be operational across Tamil Nadu, doing away with a previous
restriction that barred such services in 11 districts including Coimbatore. Hotels, lodges and guest houses would be allowed to resume functioning and restaurants would be permitted to re-start dine-in services (6 AM to 8 PM), with “50 per cent” customer occupancy and similarly, tea stalls too could offer services by following the same 50 per cent norm. Entertainment and amusement parks would be allowed to operate by allowing access to 50 per cent visitors. State-run retail liquor outlets would be allowed to function till 8 PM from the previous 5 PM (from 10 AM). In effect, except the prohibited activities, other restrictions would be lifted. (PTI)

Facing flak from the BJP and Congress over alleged mismatch in the COVID-19 deaths reported in Kerala, Health Minister Veena George on Friday said the government has decided to publish the names and other details of those who succumbed to the virus in the state. The minister said she has directed that the name, age and place of each COVID patient, who succumbs to the infection, be published on the website of the Health Department from Saturday. Till now, only the the district, age and date of death of each COVID patient were being published on the department’s website, she said. Earlier in the day, opposition Congress and BJP continued to allege mismatch in the COVID-19 deaths reported in Kerala and accused the state government of projecting a ‘fabricated’ figure to save its face in the fight against the pandemic. (PTI)

SIDBI on Friday said it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship to help MSMEs address COVID-19-induced challenges. Under this, it will expand credit access, enhance formalisation, build competitive clusters and improve the legal framework for ease of doing business for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This is part of SIDBI’s host of developmental measures rolled out to commemorate the World MSME day on June 27 as a Developmental Week, the lender said in a release on Friday. Among others, it has set up a Swavalamban chair in Government Engineering College, Thrissur, done profiling of 11 states for entrepreneurial opportunities and felicitated COVID-19 responsive entities and associations. (PTI)

Karnataka on Friday logged 2,984 new cases of COVID-19 and 88 deaths, taking the caseload to 28,49,997 and toll to 35,222, the health department said. The day also saw 14,337 discharges, pushing the total recoveries to 27,60,881. Bengaluru Urban reported 593 new cases as the city saw 10,674 discharges and 11 deaths. The active cases in the state stood at 53,871. (PTI)

West Bengal government file an affidavit in Calcutta High Court in the case related to the COVID-19 fake vaccine. (ANI)

India’s cumulative COVID Vaccination Coverage exceeded 34.41 crore (34,41,00,158). Of which, 38,88,643 vaccine doses were administered today as per the 7 pm provisional report: Union Health Ministry (ANI)

The Congress on Friday raised several questions over a deal for the supply of coronavirus vaccine Covaxin to Brazil, and demanded that the prime minister and the government order a probe into charges of graft. The opposition party also questioned the government over the “slow pace” of vaccination in the country. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the government needs to clear the air over the deal with Brazil as Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and taxpayers’ money was used for it. Shrinate said there are serious allegations raised by another country that don’t drag into controversy just Bharat Biotech but also its co-developer and co-partners, and the conspicuous silence by the Indian government raises far more questions.  “We would want to raise some very important questions because this brings disrepute and taint to the entire pharma industry which has brought much repute and pride to India. (PTI)

The UK’s medicines regulator has shared relevant data with its counterpart in the European Union (EU) to facilitate the clearance of Covishield, the India-made version of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines, Downing Street said on Friday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said that he is ‘very confident’ of the approvals of the Oxford/AstraZeneca jabs by the EU. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had approved the Serum Institute of India (SII) produced vaccines, but the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is yet to give its nod for the region’s so-called vaccine passports for travel. It has led to concerns that Indians vaccinated with Covishield and thousands in Britain who received the India imported jabs may face hurdles when travelling to the EU. “I am very confident that there will not prove to be a problem,” Prime Minister Johnson told reporters at a press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at Downing Street when asked about the issue. (AP)

Tamil Nadu has recorded 4,230 new COVID-19 cases and 97 deaths, pushing the overall caseload to 24,88,407 and 32,818, the Health Department said on Friday. Among the new cases were those of nine people from other states while there were 30 deaths from Thanjavur alone. As many as 4,952 people got discharged today, aggregating to 24,18,882 leaving 36,707 active infections, a bulletin said. The State reported its highest daily infection at 36,184 on May 21 and it has been reporting a decline since. On May 30, daily cases dropped below 30,000; on June 7 the numbers were less than 20,000; and on June 17 they were less than 10,000. (PTI)

Bangladesh’s daily COVID-19 deaths remained over 100 for the sixth consecutive day with 132 fatalities in the last 24 hours even as experts warned that the country is yet to witness the worst scenario of the pandemic. The daily death toll, the second highest so far, has increased the COVID-19 fatalities to 14,778 while the number of positive cases increased to 930,042 after the country recorded 8,483 new cases in the last 24 hours, said a spokesman of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Bangladesh recorded its highest single-day deaths on Thursday when the virus claimed 143 lives. The country reported highest infection cases of 8,822 on Wednesday as the situation was worsening since the past one week. (PTI)

The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday issued an order easing the night curfew timings by an hour in the urban areas of the state, a senior official said. The night curfew, which was imposed during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, from 10 pm to 6 am, has now been eased by an hour, from 11 pm to 6 am, the state’s additional chief secretary (home) Dr Rajesh Rajora said. The revised order will come into effect immediately in all urban areas of the state, he said. (PTI)

Kerala recorded 12,095 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing the infection count to 29,49,128, while the toll rose to 13,505 with 146 more deaths. As many as 10,243 people have been cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 28,31,394 and the number of activecases has touched 1,03,764, a state government release said. In the last 24 hours ending 2 pm, 1,19,659 samples were tested and the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was 10.11 per cent. So far, 2,33,18,214 samples have been tested. (PTI)

A 70-year-old man died of COVID-19 in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh that recorded 150 new coronavirus cases on Friday, an official said. This took the number of fatalities and positive cases to 3,465 and 2,02,440 respectively. According to the health department, the number of active cases now stands at 1,579. A total number of 209 people recovered from the infection in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries to 1,97,369, the official said. (PTI)

The Gujarat government on Friday informed the High Court that it will significantly enhance the medical infrastructure to face a possible third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and will almost double the number of oxygen beds, ICU beds and ventilators. The government submitted an affidavit before a special bench of Justices Bela Trivedi and Bhargav Karia which is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) on the pandemic situation in the state (which the HC has taken up on its own) and related petitions. As per the “Third Wave Preparedness Plan For Covid-19” laid out in the affidavit, the number of COVID-19 hospitals, including private ones, will be increased from the present 1,800 to 2,400 if the need arises. Oxygen beds will be increased from 61,000 to 1.10 lakh and ICU beds from 15,000 to 30,000, it said.  The government has also planned to add 8,000 ventilators, taking the total to 15,000. (PTI)

Rajasthan recorded seven deaths and 76 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking the number of fatalities and positive cases to 8,930 and 9,52,573 respectively. Two deaths were recorded each in Udaipur, Dausa and Bikaner and one in Alwar, an official report said. Of the fresh positive cases, maximum of 27 were reported from Jaipur, followed by 14 in Alwar. A total of 9,42,331 persons in the state have recovered from the infection so far and the number of active cases at present is 1,312. (PTI)

Both the doses of Covid vaccine provide around 98 per cent protection from death due to the disease, while one dose gives nearly 92 per cent shield, the government said on Friday citing a study conducted on police personnel in Punjab. The study was done by the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh in collaboration with the Punjab government.   Sharing the data of the study, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul said 4,868 police personnel were not vaccinated and out of them, 15 died due to coronavirus infection, which comes down to 3.08 incidence per thousand. (PTI)

Meghalaya’s COVID-19 caseload on Friday increased to 50,575 as 485 more people tested positive for the infection, while five fresh fatalities pushed the north-eastern states coronavirus death toll to 849, a health official said. All five fatalities are from the East Khasi Hills district. The state now has 4,652 active COVID-19 cases, while 45,074 people have recovered from the infection so far, including 365 in the last 24 hours, Health Services director Aman War said. (PTI)

Maharashtra reports 8,753 new COVID cases, 8,385 discharges, and 156 deaths in the past 24 hours

Active cases: 1,16,876
Total discharges: 58,36,920
Recovery rate: 96.01%  (ANI)

The head of the World Health Organisation says the world is in “a very dangerous period” of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting the more contagious delta variant is identified in nearly 100 countries. At a press briefing on Friday, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the delta variant, first found in India, is continuing to evolve and mutate, and it is becoming the predominant COVID-19 virus in many countries. “I have already urged leaders across the world to ensure that by this time next year, 70% of all people in every country are vaccinated,” he said, adding that would effectively end the acute phase of the pandemic. (AP) 

The Delhi High Court Friday said it will hear on July 12, a plea by doctors challenging imposition of cost and certain adverse observations made by the court while dismissing their petition seeking to postpone the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) screening test due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country. A vacation bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Subramonium Prasad said there was no justification for taking up the matter now and listed it before the roster bench on July 12. “You are only challenging the costs and adverse observations, let it come before the roster bench,” the court said. Petitioner, Association of MD Physicians, has filed an appeal challenging a single judge’s June 11 order imposing a cost of Rs 25,000 and making certain remarks while dismissing the petition seeking to postpone the exam which was scheduled for June 18. (PTI)

Goa reports 183 new #COVID cases, 285 recoveries and 2 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Active cases: 2,174
Total recoveries: 1,61,867
Death toll: 3,062 (ANI)

India on Friday said it expects that its CoWIN vaccination certificate would be recognised by the European Union on a reciprocal basis for travel and it is in touch with member states of the bloc over this issue. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the European Union has now instituted what is called an EU digital COVID certificate for exempting restrictions on the movement of vaccinated people. “Our expectation is that Indians who have been vaccinated through our domestic vaccination programme would be treated at par with those vaccinated in the EU and the CoWIN vaccination certificate would be recognized by the EU on a reciprocal basis,” he said at an online media briefing. “As you are aware, such CoWIN vaccination certificates can be authenticated on the CoWIN website itself. We are in touch with the EU member states in this regard for reciprocal acceptance,” Bagchi said, noting that a number of EU countries have already taken  “positive steps” in this direction.  His remarks came a day after sources said nine European nations are accepting Covishield vaccines for travel to their countries. (PTI)

Pakistan received 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the United States on Friday, easing pressure on Islamabad in overcoming the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. According to a US embassy statement, the vaccines were delivered to the Pakistani people in partnership with the COVAX global vaccine initiative, UNICEF, and the government of Pakistan. It says this donation was part of the 80 million doses the United States was sharing with the world, “delivering on our pledge to facilitate equitable global access to safe and effective vaccines, which are essential to ending the COVID-19 pandemic”. (AP)

Minister of State for Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers Shri Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday visited Serum Institute of India’s vaccine manufacturing plant in Pune to get further acquainted with the vaccination production and to review the production of Covid-19 vaccines . Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ms S. Aparna was also present.

Sikkim reported 111 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the caseload to 20,777, a health department bulletin said on Friday. The coronavirus death toll in Sikkim remained at 308 as no more fatality was reported in the past 24 hours, it said. South Sikkim registered 58 new cases, followed by East Sikkim (41), South Sikkim (11) and North Sikkim (1) districts. Sikkim now has 2,062 active COVID-19 cases, while 253 patients have migrated to other states, and 18,154 people have recovered from the disease. (PTI)

Uttarakhand reports 109 #COVID19 cases, 108 recoveries and 2 deaths today.

Active cases: 1,864
Total recoveries: 3,25,361
Death toll: 7,327 (ANI)

Karnataka | Compulsory RT-PCR tests being conducted at Talapady check post for entry from Kerala into Karnataka. Negative #COVID19 report mandatory pic.twitter.com/mwAVbweNer

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2021

Telangana on Friday reported 858 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to over 6.25 lakh, while the toll stood at 3,678 with nine more deaths. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the highest number of cases with 107 followed by Khammam (81) and Nalgonda (64) districts, a state government bulletin said. The number of active cases was12,726. The total number of cases in the state stood at6,25,237, while with1,175people being cured, the total recoveries are at6,08,833. Over 1.08 lakh samples were tested on Friday. (PTI)

Delhi recorded two more COVID-19-related deaths and 93 new cases on Friday with a positivity rate of 0.13 per cent, according to a health department bulletin. The national capital had recorded four COVID-19-related deaths and 91 cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent. As many as 407 patients recovered in the last 24 hours as the recoveries again outnumbered the new cases. With the fresh cases on Friday, Delhi’s COVID-19 caseload has increased to 14,34,374. The death toll stands at 24,983, it said, adding that the case fatality rate is 1.74 per cent. The national capital had recorded 94 Covid cases at a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent and six fatalities on Wednesday. (PTI)

State level curfew extended till 7 am, 12 July 2021. Shops can remain open from 7 am to 6 pm. Saloons and outdoor sports complex/stadiums may also open: Goa CM, Pramod Sawant (ANI)

Two Indian nationals, who are also permanent residents in Singapore, were charged by a court here on Friday for breaching the government set conditions of the Stay-Home Notices that was served to them when they arrived in the country in March. Suresh Naidu Bojanki, 37, and Bharati Tulshiram Choudhari, 47, were charged for acting in a manner likely to spread the contagious coronavirus, The Straits Times newspaper reported. The two had met on a flight to Singapore but allegedly breached the conditions of their Stay-Home Notices (SHN) at Oasia Hotel to meet in one of their rooms after midnight, the report said. Bojanki is also facing an additional charge of failing to wear a mask outside his place of residence. (PTI)