Coronavirus Pandemic April 21 Highlights: India is seeing a fresh surge in Covid cases and also, related deaths. The state governments including the national capital have already started taking measures like mandatory wearing of masks. The recent to join the list is Punjab. The state government issued an advisory which said people were required to put on masks when out in public. The move is a precautionary step as there is a fear of fourth wave that has been creating a lot of anxiety in people in recent days. But is it time to bring back rest of the Covid restrictions like a heavy cap on public gathering? According to WHO Covid-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, the systems that have been put in place for surveillance, for testing, for sequencing should right now be reinforced and not taken apart.
Punjab makes wearing of face masks in public places mandatory pic.twitter.com/zesTOmnNH2
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2022
— ANI (@ANI) According to the official data shared by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday morning, India recorded a single-day rise of 2,380 new Covid-19 infections. Active Coronavirus cases in the country have increased to 13,433. The number of deaths due to Covid increased to 56 in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that the active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent.
India’s effective reproduction number (R-value) for Covid-19 increased to over 1 for the first time since mid-January. R-value is an indicator of how quickly a disease is spreading in the population. The R-value has been increasing steadily for the past week. It was 1.07 for April 12-18, according to Sitabhra Sinha, a researcher from Chennai’s Institute of Mathematical Sciences who has been tracking the country’s R-value since the beginning of the pandemic, reported IE. The R-value was 0.93 the previous week.
To know more about the Covid situation in India and around the globe, keep following the live updates here with FE.com.
Delhi reports 965 fresh COVID19 cases, 635 recoveries, and 1 death in the last 24 hours.
Active cases 2,970
Positivity rate 4.71% (ANI)
Lu Muying died on April 1 in a government quarantine facility in Shanghai, with her family on the phone as doctors tried to resuscitate her. She had tested positive for COVID-19 in late March and was moved there in line with government policy that all coronavirus cases be centrally isolated.
But the 99-year-old, who was just two weeks shy of her 100th birthday, was not counted as a COVID-19 death in Shanghai's official tally. In fact, the city of more than 25 million has only reported 25 coronavirus deaths despite an outbreak that has spanned nearly two months and infected hundreds of thousands of people in the world's third-largest city.
Lu's death underscores how the true extent of the virus toll in Shanghai has been obscured by Chinese authorities. Doctors told Lu's relatives she died because COVID-19 exacerbated her underlying heart disease and high blood pressure, yet she still was not counted. (AP)
Tamil Nadu | A total of 12 Covid positive cases have been reported in IIT Madras so far. The state government has formed a special team to break the cluster and take precautionary steps: J Radhakrishnan, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary (ANI)
Expert panel of India's central drug authority recommends granting emergency use authorisation for Biological E's COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for children in 5 to 11 years age group: Official sources (PTI)
Omicron sublineage BA.2.12 has been detected in a majority of the samples sequenced from Delhi in the first fortnight of April and it could be behind the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the city, sources said Thursday.
However, an Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) source has claimed that Omicron variant derivative BA.2.12.1 has also been found in a few samples in Delhi which is said to be contributing to the recent rise in cases in the US. | READ MORE
Vaccine inequity remains an issue both within India, where less than 2 per cent of the population has received a Covid booster, and the globe with 56 countries unable to inoculate even 10 percent of their people, says Johns Hopkins scientist Amita Gupta.
Tracking hospitalisation rates which provide an indicator of severity of illness is key, the chief of the Division of Infectious Disease, and Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said while stressing that no one is safe from Covid until everyone in the world gets vaccinated. | READ MORE
DCGI's Subject Expert Committee (SEC) meeting begins to discuss recommendations on restricted emergency use of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Biological E's Corbevax vaccines among children aged 5-12: Sources (ANI)
Shanghai authorities said on Thursday tough restrictions would remain in place for now even in districts which managed to cut COVID-19 transmission to zero, as the number of cases outside quarantined areas across the city rose again. (Reuters)
Odisha recorded nine fresh coronavirus cases on Thursday, while there was no fatality, the health department said. There are 104 active COVID-19 cases now and 15 more patients have recuperated, taking the total number of recoveries to 12,78,687, a bulletin stated. The daily positivity rate was 0.04 per cent and the infections were detected out of 21,195 sample tested. A child was among those who were afflicted with the disease, it added. (PTI)
The Punjab government on Thursday advised people to wear face masks at crowded places amid a surge in coronavirus cases in some of the states. Punjab on Wednesday had reported 30 fresh cases, taking its coronavirus tally to 7,59,334. (PTI)
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2022
— ANI (@ANI) April 21, 2022
Even though COVID-19 cases are on the rise, there is no need to panic and the risk for those who have taken the vaccines is very low, an Uttar Pradesh government spokesperson said here on Thursday. According to health experts, it is possible that in the coming days, there may be an increase in new cases of the disease, but the current variant of the virus is a "normal" one, the official said. (PTI)
Germany reports 23,844,536 confirmed Covid-19 cases (+186,325), 133,632 Covid deaths (+324), says Robert Koch Institute (Reuters)
Taiwan's government has approved a second COVID-19 booster vaccine dose for those 65 and older, and third boosters for the immunocompromised, as it looks to step up its fight against a spike in domestic infections that has yet to peak. While Taiwan is dealing with a rise in local cases, the numbers overall remain small - 15,544 since Jan. 1 - and just four people have died, with more than 99% of those infected reporting either minor or no symptoms. Taiwan's Centres for Disease Control said late Wednesday it had approved second booster shots for the elderly, as well as residents of long-term care facilities. (Reuters)
The World Health Organisation says that the number of reported new COVID-19 cases worldwide decreased by nearly a quarter last week, continuing a decline since the end of March. The Geneva-based UN health agency said in a weekly report that nearly 5.59 million cases were reported between April 11 and 17, 24% fewer than in the previous week. The number of newly reported deaths dropped 21% to 18,215. (AP)
Shanghai reported eight more deaths due to COVID-19, taking the toll in the current outbreak in the eastern metropolis to 25, while the Chinese mainland reported over 19,300 cases due to the new Omicron variant. Wednesday saw eight deaths from COVID-19, all in Shanghai, China's National Health Commission reported on Thursday. (PTI)
Thailand on Thursday received 200,000 doses of India-made Covovax vaccines as part of a flagship initiative of the Quad grouping to help countries combat the coronavirus pandemic. The vaccine doses were handed over to Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in Bangkok by India's Ambassador to Thailand Suchitra Durai, Australian envoy Allan McKinnon, Japan's Nashida Kazuya and US Charge d'Affaires James Wayman, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. (PTI)
➡️ Over 83.33 Cr COVID Tests conducted so far.
➡️ Weekly Positivity Rate currently at 0.43%.
➡️ Daily Positivity Rate stands at 0.53%. pic.twitter.com/rFMBP8S6KG
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 21, 2022
➡️ India’s Cumulative #covid19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 187.07 Cr (1,87,07,08,111).
➡️ Over 2.53 Cr 1st dose vaccines administered for age group 12-14 years.https://t.co/ZBlCbnQ2e0 pic.twitter.com/h48SF7yjrI
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) April 21, 2022
With 2,380 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,49,974, while the active cases increased to 13,433, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 5,22,062 with 56 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the ministry said. (PTI)
Covid cases and deaths are declining in the America, the Pan American Health Organization said, with infections last week having dropped 2.3% and deaths falling 15.2% from the prior week. (Reuters)
Hong Kong reopened gyms, beauty parlours, theme parks, and cinemas for the first time in more than four months on Thursday, as authorities relax some of the world's most stringent COVID restrictions that have weighed on residents and businesses. Also, restaurant dining has been extended until 10 p.m. (1400 GMT) from 6 p.m. and group gatherings have been expanded to four people, from two previously. Many schools have also resumed in-person learning after months of online classes. (Reuters)
The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday appealed a judge's ruling ending a mask mandate on public transportation and airplanes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the measure was still needed. (Reuters)
Moderna plans to submit an application to the U.S. health regulator for emergency use authorization (EUA) of its COVID-19 vaccine among kids between the ages of six months to five years by end of the month, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday. (Reuters)
Eight people infected with COVID-19 died in Shanghai on April 20, Chinese state television said on Thursday. That was up from seven deaths a day earlier. The Chinese financial hub reported 15,861 new local asymptomatic coronavirus cases, down from 16,407 a day earlier. Symptomatic cases stood at 2,634, up from 2,494 a day earlier. (Reuters)