Coronavirus Statistics in India, Covid-19 Cases in India May 12 Highlights: India lost 4,205 people to the coronavirus pandemic in the last 24 hours, said the government data released on Wednesday morning. This is the highest-ever death count that India has ever seen in a single day since the pandemic began in 2020. This is the third time in the span of 10 days that India has officially recorded over 4,000 deaths in 24 hours. India had seen over 4,000 deaths on May 8. On May 9, the second day in a row, India reported 4,092 deaths.
Maharashtra topped the tally again with over 800 deaths. Other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Karnataka have also reported over 200 deaths per day.
As far as the fresh cases are concerned, the tally saw a marginal increase in comparison with yesterday. 3.48 lakh new Covid-19 infections were recorded in the last 24 hours, the health bulletin said. While the overall tally has seen a slight ebb, the state-wise Covid tracker shows, the situation has not improved. Over 500 districts are reporting over a 10% positivity rate. There are 13 states that have 100,000 active corona cases.
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Meanwhile, there is a relief for Delhi-NCR as the National Capital Delhi has shown improvement with a positivity rate dipping to 17.7%. The big question is – Has Covid second wave peaked and is now receding? Experts are divided. Some say that the previous mathematical models, as well as clinical studies, had predicted the second wave peaking in mid-May and then the numbers would be on a downward trajectory subsequently. But the fine print is – data accuracy. The World Health Organization has said that the numbers reported by India and other South-East Asia nations are underestimated.
As India fights the deadly second wave, here are the newest, verified updates from across the country and around the world:
Punjab on Wednesday registered 197 more coronavirus deaths, taking the toll to 11,111, while 8,347 new cases took the infection tally to 4,67,539, according to a medical bulletin. The number of active cases rose from 76,856 on Tuesday to 79,963. Twenty-eight deaths were reported from Ludhiana, 20 each from Patiala and Bathinda, 19 from Amritsar and 14 from Sangrur, among fatalities reported in the past 24-hours. Ludhiana registered the maximum number of cases at 1,215 followed by 874 in Bathinda, 821 in Jalandhar, 723 in Fazilka and 713 in Mohali, among daily fresh cases. A total of 4,971 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from infection, taking the number of cured persons to 3,76,465, according to the bulletin. There are 342 critical patients who are on ventilator support while 9,736 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said. (PTI)
West Bengal on Wednesday registered its highest single-day spike of 20,377 new COVID-19 cases, which pushed the tally to 10,53,117, the health department said in a bulletin. The death toll rose to 12,728 as 135 more people succumbed to the disease, it said. North 24 Parganas district recorded the maximum number of new cases at 4,091, followed by Kolkata at 3,989. Kolkata accounted for the highest number of fresh fatalities at 44. (PTI)
The Odisha government on Wednesday informed the centre that about 22 lakh people in the state are waiting for the second shot and therefore the state requires at least 25 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines. This was stated by Odisha’s Health and Family Welfare Minister N K Das, who joined a virtual meeting of Union Health & Family Welfare minister Harsh Vardhan with state health ministers. (PTI)
The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has gone past 17.70 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. It said 4,17,321 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and cumulatively 34,66,895 across 30 states and union territories since the start of the third phase of the vaccination drive. “The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 17,70,85,371 as per the 8 pm provisional report,” the ministry said. (PTI)
Haryana on Wednesday reported 165 fatalities due to COVID-19, taking the death toll to 6,075, while 12,490 fresh cases pushed the tally to 6,52,742. According to the health department’s daily bulletin, the latest deaths include 23 from Rohtak, 16 each from Hisar and Bhiwani, 11 from Jind, 10 from Faridabad and 9 each from Gurgaon, Sirsa and Charkhi Dadri districts. Among the districts which continued to report a big spike in cases include Gurgaon (2,747), Faridabad (1,237), Hisar (977), Bhiwani (802) and Sirsa (784). The number of total active cases in the state was 1,07,058. (PTI)
Karnataka’s death toll due to COVID-19 touched 20,368 with 517 fatalities on Wednesday, while 39,998 fresh cases took the infection count to 20,53,191, the health department said. The state has 5,92,182 active cases whereas the total discharges stood at 14,40,621 with the recovery of 34,752 people today. Bengaluru Urban district reported 16,286 infections and 275 fatalities, which is highest in the state. The city has so far reported 9,99,805 infections and 8,964 deaths. (PTI)
Battling a surge in COVID-19 cases and facing manpower crunch, the Jharkhand government on Wednesday announced that it was extending Rs 50 lakh insurance cover for frontline workers that include doctors, nurses and health workers. Chairing a high-level meeting, Chief Minister Hemant Soren said the government will also expedite payment of insurance cover to frontline coronavirus workers, dying due to the virus. Jharkhand with 103 fresh COVID-19 fatalities during the last 24 hours has seen its death toll increasing to 4,085, while the tally climbed to 2,96,895 with 4,365 fresh cases. (PTI)
PM Modi chairs high level meeting to review availability and supply of oxygen and medicines, says India has vibrant pharma sector, govt’s continued close coordination will ensure proper availability of all medicines. (PTI)
Jharkhand extends lockdown-like restrictions with stricter provisions, including 7-day quarantine for people visiting state, till May 27: officials. (PTI)
The COVID-19 death toll in Himachal Pradesh rose to 2,055 on Wednesday with record 66 more fatalities in a single day, while 4,977 new cases pushed the tally to 1,45,736, a senior official said. According to data updated till 7 pm, the number of active cases in the state stands at 38,954. A total of 2,187 people recovered, pushing the total recoveries to 1,04,686, the official said. (PTI)
The Maharashtra cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to make the state self- sufficient in oxygen production under which special incentives will be offered to manufacturers. The `Maharashtra Mission Oxygen’ aims to ensure a production of 3,000 metric tons of life-saving gas per day in the state, said a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office. At present the production capacity in the state is 1,300 metric tons per day while the demand is 1,800 metric tons on account of coronavirus pandemic. (PTI)
Telangana on Wednesday reported4,723 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,11,711, while the toll rose to 2,834 with 31 more deaths, a government bulletin said. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 745, followed by Rangareddy (312) and Medchal Malkajgiri (305), the bulletin said. The state has 59,133 active cases and over 69,000 samples were tested. Total recoveries stood at 4,49,744 with 5695 being cured today.Cumulatively, over 1.38 crore samples have been tested. (PTI)
Gujarat on Wednesday reported 11,017 new coronavirus positive cases and 102 casualties that raised the tally of infections to 7,14,611 and toll to 8,731, an official from the state health department said. The number of recoveries exceeded the infections, as 15,264 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said. With this, the state’s recovery rate has increased to 80.94 per cent and the count of recoveries has reached 5,78,397, he said. (PTI)
Uttarakhand will import 20 lakh doses of Sputnik vaccine over the next two months, officials said on Wednesday. Giving the information at a press conference here, Chief Secretary Om Prakash said a five-member committee has been constituted for the purpose and the required funds have been arranged. The state government has also requested the country’s leading vaccine manufacturing companies to supply doses of the vaccine to Uttarakhand, he said. He said the state government is constantly in talks with the Centre also as vaccine doses received so far are not adequate. “We will get 8 lakh doses this month and 9 lakh doses next on the condition that the second dose is administered to people who have already got the first dose,” he said. (PTI)
Maharashtra reported 46,781 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, an uptick from 40,956 a day ago, and 816 deaths, the health department said. The caseload increased to 52,26,710, while death toll reached 78,007, it said. On Tuesday Maharashtra had reported 40,956 COVID-19 cases, 793 deaths and 71,966 recoveries. Of 816 fatalities, 387 had occurred in the past 48 hours, 193 last week and the rest even before that but were added to the tally on Wednesday. (PTI)
Amid rising COVID-19 cases in Kerala, the state government on Wednesday urged the Centre to provide more vaccines, a critical new tool in the battle against the deadly virus. Kerala today reported 43,529 new cases of COVID-19 from 1,46,320 sample tests in the last 24 hours with a test positivity rate of 29.75 per cent. This is the highest number of new positive cases to be detected on any single day so far, while 95 deaths were also confirmed today as caused by COVID, taking the toll to 6,053. (PTI)
Due to the acute shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in Maharashtra, the state government on Wednesday decided to temporarily suspend its drive to vaccinate people in the age group of 18 to 44 and divert the available stock of doses for the above-45 age group, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said. This decision was taken during the state cabinet meeting. The minister also revealed that the Serum Institute of India (SII) has informed the Maharashtra government that it would be able to provide 1.5 crore Covishield vaccines to the state only May 20 onwards. (PTI)
Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 4,509 fresh COVID cases, taking the tally to 2,29,407, while 65 deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the toll 2,912 in the Union Territory, officials said. Out of the fresh cases, 1,759 were from the Jammu division and 2,750 from the Kashmir division, they said. The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest of 863 cases, followed by 621 in Jammu district and 377 in Baramulla district. The number of active cases has reached 51,542 in the Union Territory, while 1,74,953 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. (PTI)
Rajasthan recorded 164 more COVID-19 deaths and 16,384 fresh cases on Wednesday, taking the fatality count to 6,158 and the infection tally to 8,05,658, an official report said. Jaipur reported a maximum of 58 fatalities, followed by Jodhpur 18, it said. The remaining deaths were reported from Udaipur, Bikaner, Jaisalmer, Pratapgarh, Dausa, Bundi, Hanumangarh and Dholpur. Of the fresh cases, 3,214 infections were recorded in Jaipur, 1,260 in Udaipur and 907 in Jodhpur, among others. (PTI)
At the Cabinet meeting, the health department & ministers proposed to extend the lockdown for 15 days. The chief minister will take a final decision on this matter: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope
Internationally acclaimed theatre personality Ratn Thiyam is suffering from COVID-19 and has been admitted to a hospital here on Wednesday. The admission in-charge of of the medical directorate of Manipur government in Imphal West district, N Haraba said the septuagenarian playwright and theatre director has tested postive for the disease and has been admitted to a multi- speciality hospital here. He is in the ICU and is being administered oxygen, doctors treating him said adding his condition is stable. Thiyam, a Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, is a leading figure of the theatre of roots movement which started in the 1970s. He is known for writing and staging plays that use ancient Indian theatre traditions and forms in a contemporary context. (PTI)
The Rajasthan government has directed all private hospital operators in the state having a capacity of 60 or more to set up centralised oxygen pipelines amid rising demand for the life-saving gas. The demand for medical oxygen is increasing due to rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. The decision has been taken in view of the supply of demand, state Health Secretary Siddharth Mahajan said in a statement. According to the order, private hospitals located in the state having a bed capacity of 60 or more are directed to set up a centralised oxygen pipeline at 50 per cent of their total bed capacity along with round-the-clock oxygen supply on the beds. They should also set up an oxygen production plant for supply in two months. (PTI)
Former India cricketer Rudra Pratap Singh lost his father to COVID-19 on Wednesday. The 35-year-old left-arm pacer from Uttar Pradesh informed about the death of his father Shiv Prasad Singh on twitter. “It is with deepest grief and sadness we inform the passing away of my father, Mr Shiv Prasad Singh. He left for his heavenly abode on 12th May after suffering from Covid. We request you to keep my beloved father in your thoughts and prayers. RIP Papa,” he tweeted. (PTI)
Three employees of a government medical college and a chemist were arrested for alleged black marketing of Remdesivir injections, used in the treatment of COVID-19, in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol district, police said on Wednesday. Following the arrest, the Shahdol Government Medical College administration terminated the services of the three accused staffers, an official said. (PTI)
21,452 new COVID19 cases, 89 deaths and 19,095 recoveries reported in Andhra Pradesh today
Total cases: 13,44,386
Active cases: 1,97,370 (ANI)
Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma have raised nearly Rs 11 crore in their fund-raising campaign to support COVID-19 relief work in India. The Kohli couple themselves put Rs 2 crore and the funds raised through the campaign will be donated to Act Grants to aid COVID-19 relief. Their aim was to raise Rs 7 crore through ‘Ketto’ but with two days still left, they have managed to surpass their target by a handsome margin. MPL Sports Foundation, part of fantasy gaming company MPL, also donated Rs 5 crore. “The campaign received overwhelmed response from the people,” a press release said. (PTI)
Goa reports 2865 new COVID-19 cases, 70 deaths and 2840 recoveries in the last 24 hours
Total cases: 1,27,639
Active cases: 32,791 (ANI)
COVID-19 vaccines may be safe during pregnancy, suggests a study that found no evidence of injury to the placenta in pregnant women who received the preventive. The first-of-its-kind study, published on Tuesday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, adds to the growing literature that COVID-19 vaccines are safe in pregnancy. “The placenta is like the black box in an airplane. If something goes wrong with a pregnancy, we usually see changes in the placenta that can help us figure out what happened,” said Jeffery Goldstein, assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the US. “From what we can tell, the COVID vaccine does not damage the placenta,” Goldstein said. The researchers noted that there is a lot of vaccine hesitancy, especially among pregnant people. “Our team hopes these data, albeit preliminary, can reduce concerns about the risk of the vaccine to the pregnancy,” said study co-author Emily Miller, assistant professor at Northwestern University. The study authors examined the placentas from 84 vaccinated patients and 116 unvaccinated patients who delivered at a hospital in Chicago, US. (PTI)
Coronavirus cases are exploding in Asia and the Pacific with over 5.9 million new confirmed infections in the past two weeks, more than in all other regions combined, the International Federation of the Red Cross said Wednesday. It warned that the surge is pushing hospitals and health systems to the brink of collapse. Seven out of 10 countries globally that are doubling their infection numbers the fastest are in Asia and the Pacific, it said. Laos took just 12 days to see its cases double, and the number of confirmed infections in India has doubled in under two months to more than 23 million, the Red Cross said in a statement. It said Oxford University’s Our World in Data reported more than 5.9 million new COVID-19 infections in Asia and the Pacific during the two weeks. Official figures for much of the region are widely believed to be undercounts. “COVID-19 is exploding across much of Asia, overwhelming hospitals and healthcare. More people have been diagnosed with the disease in Asia over the past two weeks than in the Americas, Europe, and Africa combined,” Red Cross Asia Pacific director Alexander Matheou said. (AP)
Tech Mahindra Foundation, the philanthropic arm of IT firm Tech Mahindra, on Wednesday said it is supporting Mission Oxygen and will set up 50 oxygen plants for charitable and government hospitals as part of its efforts to support COVID-19 relief efforts. The partnership will strive to ensure that hospitals, nursing homes and medical care facilities, especially in tier-2 cities, get immediate access to oxygen. Tech Mahindra Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Growth Jagdish Mitra said, “We are aware of the likelihood of the virus coming back in another wave. Therefore, (we) feel the need to support our country to prepare better by strengthening the healthcare system, especially in areas where the cases are to peak in the next 3-5 weeks based on analytics and data modelling.” To this effect, the organisation is extending its support to Mission Oxygen and partnering with them to set up 50 oxygen plants for charitable and government hospitals across India to augment oxygen availability in the country. “We are confident that together, we can contribute towards enabling the supply chain digitally and provide immediate access of oxygen concentrators to hospitals, and also set up permanent oxygen facilities for the long run,” he said. (PTI)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that an independent public inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic will be held next year. He told lawmakers Wednesday that the inquiry will have wide-ranging statutory powers and that the government has a responsibility to learn lessons from the pandemic. Johnson said he expects the inquiry to begin its work next spring. (AP)
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today again wrote to PM Narendra Modi over vaccine supply. In her letter, she said it is now known that the vaccine is the real antidote to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic. “The production of vaccines in the country is extremely inadequate and insignificant in the context of the massive needs of the people at large. About 10 crore people in West Bengal and 140 crore people in the country need vaccination, here and now, but only a microscopic percentage has been covered,” said Banerjee. READ FULL STORY HERE
Bangladesh on Wednesday received 500,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine as a gift to continue its vaccination drive, which was halted due to a shortage of India-made Astrazeneca jabs. Chinese Ambassador Li Jiming handed over the vaccines to Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque at State Guest House Padma, hours after a Bangladesh aircraft landed in Dhaka carrying the vaccines from China. Momen said that Bangladesh seeks to procure 40 to 50 million doses of the Chinese vaccine on a commercial basis. He proposed co-production arrangement of the Chinese vaccine in Bangladesh, saying it could create a “win-win” situation for both the countries. “We have the capacity to produce the vaccine and we can do it with their (Chinese) help . . . if they agree we can go for co-production,” he said. (PTI)
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said there is a need for a quick consensus at the WTO on the proposal for patent waiver as well as transfer of technology and availability of raw materials for vaccines to deal with the ongoing COVID crisis. In October 2020, India and South Africa submitted a proposal suggesting a waiver for all World Trade Organization (WTO) members on the implementation of certain provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID. The agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights or TRIPS came into effect in January 1995. It is a multilateral agreement on Intellectual Property (IP) rights such as copyright, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information or trade secrets. “To overcome this crisis much faster, we need not only the acceptance of the TRIPS waiver, we need expeditious consensus building, transfer of technology and availability of the raw materials to make this happen,” Goyal said at WEF’s Global Trade Outlook session. (PTI)
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee writes to PM Narendra Modi, urging to ‘speedily import vaccines’ from global manufacturers; She suggests PM Modi to ‘encourage world & national players (vaccine manufacturers) to open up franchise operations’. (ANI)
The Rajasthan government is exploring the possibility of purchasing COVID-19 vaccines from other countries through global tenders, Health Minister Raghu Sharma said on Wednesday. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, however, said it would have been better if the central government had procured the vaccines by floating global tenders and distributing them to states. “On directions from the chief minister, the officers are exploring the possibilities of global tenders to purchase COVID vaccines,” Sharma said. He said there are 2.09 crore beneficiaries above the age of 45 years in the state and 4.5 crore doses were required to vaccinate them but the state has only 1.5 crore doses. For people in the 18-44 age group, 7 crore doses are needed, he said. (PTI)
The national capital reported 13,287 new coronavirus cases and 300 more fatalities on Wednesday, while the positivity rate came down to 17 per cent, the lowest in nearly a month, according to the health department. The 13,287 new cases came from 78,035 tests, including 63315 RTPCR/CBNAAT/True Nat tests, conducted on Tuesday. As many as 14,071 people recovered from the infection during the period, the health bulletin said. Now there are 82,725 active cases, down from 83,809 the previous day and 49,974 of them are in home isolation, it said. The number of cumulative cases stands at 13,61,986 and the death toll at 20,310. Over 12.58 lakh people have either recovered, migrated out or have been discharged, according to the health bulletin. Of the 23,202 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, 4,469 are vacant, it said. Delhi had reported 12,481 cases on Tuesday, 12,651 cases on Monday, 13,336 on Sunday, 17,364 on Saturday, 19,832 on Friday, 19,133 on Thursday, 20,960 on Wednesday and 19,953 last Tuesday. The positivity rate reported Wednesday is the lowest since April 14, when it stood at 15.9 per cent. It has remained above the 20 per cent mark since April 17. It was 17.8 percent on Tuesday, 19.10 per cent on Monday, 21.67 per cent on Sunday and 23.34 per cent on Saturday. (PTI)