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Coronavirus News LATEST Updates: Seven people who returned to Hyderabad recently from the UK tested positive for COVID-19 and their swab samples have been sent for screening to ascertain if they carry the new variant of the coronavirus detected there, a senior Telangana Health official said on Thursday. The seven have been admitted to hospitals and are being monitored continuously, Public Health Director G Srinivas Rao said. Drug firm Zydus Cadila on Thursday said its vaccine against COVID-19, ‘ZyCoV-D’, has been found to be safe and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials, and the company is seeking regulatory approval to commence Phase-III trials. The company’s “plasmid DNA vaccine to prevent COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, was found to be safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials. The company is now planning to initiate Phase III clinical trials in around 30,000 volunteers upon receiving necessary approvals,” Zydus Cadila said in a statement. The new strains of SARS-Cov-2 found in the United Kingdom and South Africa recently are less likely to change the efficacy of the vaccines under development, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was informed by CCMB director Dr Rakesh Mishra Besides, there is no evidence that suggests that the strains are associated with worse outcomes for patients, although they are more infective, he was told. The same disease management strategies are expected to work for the variants too, an official statement said. As many as 216 people who arrived in Amritsar from the UK on a 22 December flight will be institutionally quarantined as they might have come in contact with seven of their fellow passengers and a crew member who tested COVID-19 positive on arrival, said health officials. The Air India flight from London had arrived at Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport on Tuesday with 250 passengers and 22 crew members, and eight people tested positive for the coronavirus. Asymptomatic passengers arriving from Europe, South Africa and West Asia will not be subjected to RT- PCR test for coronavirus immediately upon arrival, the Maharashtra government has said in a fresh circular, amending the SOPs issued on 21 December. RT-PCR test for such persons will be conducted at the hotel where the passenger is quarantined, between 5th and 7th day, it said, adding that the cost of test will be borne by the passenger. The Karnataka government withdrew its night curfew order, hours before it was scheduled to be implemented. “In view of the public opinion that there was no need for night curfew, the decision was reviewed and after consulting with cabinet colleagues and senior officials it has been decided to withdraw the night curfew,” BS Yediyurappa said. The chief minister appealed to the people to exercise self-restraint by wearing facemasks, hand hygiene and social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane said that 11 of the passengers who arrived in the state from the UK after 9 December have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. “As per guidelines, RT-PCR testing of 979 passengers who came after 9 December is going on. Nine passengers were initially found positive for COVID-19 after their arrival from the UK, while two more subsequently approached after being symptomatic and have tested positive,” the minister said. The result of genomic analysis of a sample from a United Kingdom returnee, who tested COVID-19 positive in Chennai, could be expected next week, according to the National Institute of Virology and Tamil Nadu has requested the research facility to expedite it, said state Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan . The returnee continues to be treated at the King’s Institute for Preventive Medicine and Research and he is stable and doing well, Radhakrishnan added. Authorities in Delhi managed to trace the passengers on Tuesday night and one was found in Punjab and another was tracked in Andhra Pradesh. The comprehensive list, including about five lakh health workers, the elderly and those with co-morbidities is ready, said Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government was prepared to receive, store and provide vaccines to the priority category persons in the city. He stated that there were 51 lakh people including healthcare and frontline workers who would get vaccine in the first phase. Britain’s transport minister said he had ordered flights and arrivals from South Africa to be halted after a potentially more infectious variant of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 had spread to Britain. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 96,93,173 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.75 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the third consecutive day on Thursday. There are 2,83,849 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 2.80 percent of the total caseload, the health ministry data stated. The total number of COVID-19 recoveries have gone up to 96,93,173 with 29,791 new recoveries recorded on Wednesday, the Union health ministry said. The Delhi health minister said that the city has the ’lowest positivity rate in the entire country’, plummeting to below one percent. “The ceasing of flight services to and from the UK was a prompt move by the Centre and will help in containing the spread of the new coronavirus strain detected in that country,” he said. Two new studies give encouraging evidence that having COVID-19 may offer some protection against future infections. Researchers found that people who made antibodies to the coronavirus were much less likely to test positive again for up to six months and maybe longer. The results bode well for vaccines, which provoke the immune system to make antibodies — substances that attach to a virus and help it be eliminated. Researchers found that people with antibodies from natural infections were “at much lower risk … on the order of the same kind of protection you’d get from an effective vaccine,” of getting the virus again, said Dr Ned Sharpless, director of the US National Cancer Institute. “It’s very, very rare to get reinfected,” he said. The institute’s study had nothing to do with cancer — many federal researchers have shifted to coronavirus work because of the pandemic. Both studies used two types of tests. One is a blood test for antibodies, which can linger for many months after infection. The other type of test uses nasal or other samples to detect the virus itself or bits of it, suggesting current or recent infection. One study, published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine, involved more than 12,500 health workers at Oxford University Hospitals in the United Kingdom. Among the 1,265 who had coronavirus antibodies at the outset, only two had positive results on tests to detect active infection in the following six months and neither developed symptoms. That contrasts with the 11,364 workers who initially did not have antibodies; 223 of them tested positive for infection in the roughly six months that followed. The National Cancer Institute study involved more than 3 million people who had antibody tests from two private labs in the United States. Only 0.3% of those who initially had antibodies later tested positive for the coronavirus, compared with 3% of those who lacked such antibodies. “It’s very gratifying to see that the Oxford researchers saw the same risk reduction — 10 times less likely to have a second infection if antibodies were present,” Sharpless said. His institute’s report was posted on a website scientists use to share research and is under review at a major medical journal. The findings are “not a surprise … but it’s really reassuring because it tells people that immunity to the virus is common,” said Joshua Wolf, an infectious disease specialist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis who had no role in either study. Antibodies themselves may not be giving the protection, they might just be a sign that other parts of the immune system, such as T cells, are able to fight off any new exposures to the virus, he said. “We don’t know how long-lasting this immunity is,” Wolf added. Cases of people getting COVID-19 more than once have been confirmed, so “people still need to protect themselves and others by preventing reinfection.”
Coronavirus News Updates: Seven UK returnees found COVID-19 positive in Telangana, hospitalised
Coronavirus News Updates: An official release from Health Minister E Rajender said so far 1,200 people had come to Telangana from or via the United Kingdom since 12 December and efforts were on to trace people who came in contact with those found positive.
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Night curfew in tourist places of Pune district
The Pune district administration on Thursday imposed night curfew in tourist places such as Lonavala, Lavasa and Khadakwasla. Night curfew has been already imposed in the city in the wake of a new coronavirus variant being detected in the UK.As per the latest notification, night curfew from 11 pm to 6 am will be imposed in the areas close to Pune civic limits and tourist places like Lonavala, Lavasa, Ambi Valley, Mulshi dam, Tamhini Ghat and Khadakwasla where revelers go to celebrate New Year. The night curfew will be imposed from the midnight of 25 December and will be in force till 5.
PTI
Officials in Thane tracing 349 UK returnees
In view of the new strain of coronavirus detected in the UK, the local administration in Maharashtra’s Thane district has drawn up a list of 349 people
who have travelled from the European country in the last one month, an official said on Thursday. The administration is in the process of identifying and tracing people who have travelled from the UK since 25 November, the official said. Of the 349 travellers, 55 have come to Kalyan taluka from the UK and the process is underway to track them down, said Madhuri Phophle, PRO of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation. The civic commissioner has also appealed to citizens to intimate the civic corporation about such travellers, the official said.
According to sources from the Thane Municipal corporation, the civic body has received a list of 134 persons, of which 72 have been traced. Meanwhile, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has received a list of travellers and around 50 to 60 may be from Navi Mumbai, an official said.
PTI
Seven UK returnees found COVID positive in Telangana
Seven people who returned to Hyderabad recently from the UK tested positive for COVID-19 and their swab samples have been sent for screening to ascertain if they carry the new variant of the coronavirus detected there, a senior Telangana Health official said on Thursday. The seven have been admitted to hospitals and are being monitored continuously, Public Health Director G Srinivas Rao said.
We have found seven persons who returned from the UK during the past two weeks to be positive for the coronavirus. Their samples were sent to CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) for further tests to check if they have the new strain of the virus, he told PTI. Meanwhile, an official release from Health Minister E Rajender said so far 1,200 people had come to Telangana from or via the United Kingdom since 12 December. Seven out of 846 tested positive, it said adding efforts were on to trace people who came in contact with them.
Zydus Cadilla seeks regulatory approval for phase-3 vaccine trials
Drug firm Zydus Cadila on Thursday said its vaccine against COVID-19, ‘ZyCoV-D’, has been found to be safe andimmunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials, and the company is seeking regulatory approval to commence Phase-III trials.The company’s “plasmid DNA vaccine to prevent COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, was found to be safe, well tolerated and immunogenic in the Phase I/II clinical trials. The company is now planning to initiate Phase III clinical trials in around 30,000 volunteers upon receiving necessary approvals,” Zydus Cadila said in a statement.
PTI
New variants less likely to change efficacy of vaccines, CCMB director tells vice-president
The new strains of SARS-Cov-2 found in the United Kingdom and South Africa recently are less likely to change the efficacy of the vaccines under development, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was informed on Thursday by a senior scientist. Besides, there is no evidence that suggests that the strains are associated with worse outcomes for patients, although they are more infective, he was told. The same disease management strategies are expected to work for the variants too, an official statement said. It said the director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Dr Rakesh Mishra, on Thursday met Naidu in Hyderabad to brief him about the new strains of SARS-Cov-2 found in the UK and South Africa recently.
Schools and colleges for Classes 9-12 to reopen in Pune from 4 Jan
Schools and colleges for Classes 9 to 12 will reopen in the limits of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) from 4 January, 2021, an official said on Thursday. In an order issued on Thursday the civic body stated that schools and colleges for classes 9 to 12 will reopen from 4 January. “It is mandatory for all schools and colleges to follow the COVID-19 protocols and adhere to safety measures such as thermal screening, oximeter checking of students and staff,” the order stated. The schools and colleges will also have to ensure that the seating arrangements are made in keeping with the physical distancing norms, it was stated.
RT-PCR tests for teachers and non-teaching staff have been made mandatory for schools and colleges.
Kerala records 5,177 new cases
Over 63,000 people are presently undergoing treatment forCOVID-19 in Kerala with 5,177 new cases being reported on Thursday, taking the infection caseload past the 7.26 lakh mark in the state. Fifty-two healthcare workers were among those infectedon Thursday, state Health Minister K K Shailaja said. As many as 4,801 people were cured of the infection, which has claimed 2,914 lives so far, she said in a press release. The total recoveries have touched 6,60,445 and
presently 63,155 people are under observation and 7,26,687 people have been infected with the virus so far. The toll has surged to 2914 with 22 more deaths in the recent days being confirmed due to covid.
PTI
Inhumane to reserve ICU beds in pvt hospitals for COVID patients when cases going down: HC
The Delhi High Court on Thursday said it was “inhumane” to keep thousands of ICU beds reserved in private hospitals for COVID-19 patients when the positivityrate of the infection and number of coronavirus cases was going down in the national capital. Justice Navin Chawla said that in the prevailing situation today keeping so many ICU beds reserved for COVID-19 patients “cannot be sustained” and if in future there was an increase in COVID-19 cases, then the reservations can be brought back.
The observations by the court came after hearing submissions by senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for Association of Healthcare Providers, who placed before it data regardingnumber of cases, positivity rate, number of vacant ICU beds from the time the Delhi government passed the order reserving 80 percent ICU beds in private hospitals till 23 December when an expert panel recommended reduction of the reservation to 60 percent.
Nigh curfew to be lifted in Punjab today
India temporarily suspends Vande Bharat flights to UK: Report
India has temporarily suspended its Vande Bharat flights from the United Kingdom due to the emergence of new strain of coronavirus, reported news agency ANI quoting MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. Speaking during the weekly virtual press conference, Srivastava said that as many as 1,005 international flights have been operated under Phase 8 Plus of India’s Vande Bharat Mission, thus, repatriating more than 40 lakh people from 27 countries.
357 more test positive in Andhra Pradesh
The total COVID-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh crossed the 8.80 lakh mark on Thursday with 357 more people testing positive for the infection, reported news agency PTI. After a total of 1.14 crore sample tests, 8,80,075 turned positive for coronavirus at an overall positivity rate of 7.67 percent, the latest government bulletin said. The total recoveries increased to 8,69,124 as 355 patients got cured in 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday. The overall COVID-19 toll in the state rose to 7,089 as four more succumbed during the period, the bulletin said. The active case count fell to 3,862.
216 persons on 22 Dec London-Amritsar flight to be sent to institutional quarantine
As many as 216 people who arrived in Punjab’ Amritsar from the UK on a 22 December flight will be institutionally quarantined as they might have come in contact with seven of their fellow passengers and a crew member who tested COVID-19 positive on arrival, said Civil Surgeon Dr Ravinder Singh Sethi. They are from different places, including Amritsar, and are being taken from their homes to institutional quarantine centres, he added.
The Air India flight from London had arrived at Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ramdas Jee International Airport on Tuesday with 250 passengers and 22 crew members, and eight people tested positive for the coronavirus. Health officials said that all of them had undergone the RT-PCR test on Tuesday and were found negative, except eight, but the step to institutionally quarantine the 216 people has been taken to ensure maximum safety as per Punjab government guidelines.
PTI
South Africa registers over 14,000 cases in a day
South Africa’s health ministerZwelini Mkhize says the country has seen more than 14,000 confirmed new coronavirus cases in the past day, with a positivity rate of 26 percent, as overall cases edge toward one million. Mkhize says the alarming rate of spread of infections is much faster than during the first wave in midyear. His daily report doesn’t say how many of the new infections are attributed to the new variant of the virus in South Africa.
The country has more than 950,000 confirmed cases, including more than 25,000 deaths. More than 400 people have died in the past day.
Mkhize says COVID-19 is unrelenting and urges South Africans to not be complacent as they enter the holiday season, and he warns that the government will have to review restrictions meant to limit the spread of the virus and consider further measures. More than a quarter of the country’s infections are in Gauteng province, home of commercial hub Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria.
AP
Tripura records 13 fresh cases, one fatality
Thirteen more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Thursday, pushing the tally to 33,216, a health department official said. The COVID-19 toll rose to 381 after one more patient succumbed to the infection on Wednesday, he said. The West Tripura district, of which state capital Agartala is a part, has accounted for 190 of the 381 COVID-19 deaths, the official said.
Tripura currently has 195 active coronavirus cases, while 32,617 people have recovered and 23 patients have migrated to other states, the official said. Sixty-two patients were discharged from GB Pant hospital, the main referral hospital for COVID-19 in Tripura, on Wednesday.
PTI
Ladakh reports 13 new coronavirus cases
The Union Territory of Ladakh recorded 13 new COVID-19 cases in a day taking the infection tally to 9,309, while 46 patients have been cured during the same period, reported news agency PTI quoting officials. Out of the 13 fresh cases, 11 were reported in Leh district and two in Kargil, they said. Forty-six patients recovered from the viral disease in a day, bringing down the number of active cases in the region to 237. Out of 46 recovered cases, the officials said 12 patients were discharged in Kargil and 36 others in Leh. Leh district has 216 active cases and Kargil 21.The number of recovered cases has now gone up to 8,947, which is 96 percent of the total cases registered in the Union Territory since the outbreak of the pandemic in March.
So far, 125 people have died of COVID-19 in the Union Territory. Eighty-two deaths were reported from Leh district and 43 from Kargil.
Sri Lanka imposes lockdown in three towns near Colombo
Sri Lankan authorities imposed lockdown on three towns on the outskirts of the capital to contain the spread of COVID-19 during the festive season. Kosgama, Awissawella and Ruwanwella, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) east of Colombo, were locked down from Thursday noon.
Lockdowns have been applied in dozens of towns and villages since a resurgence of the coronavirus in the Indian Ocean island nation in October. Schools and key public offices have been closed, public gatherings banned and restrictions imposed on public transport. The two clusters that emerged in October — one centered on a garment factory and other on a fish market — account for most of Sri Lanka’s outbreak. The confirmed cases from the two clusters have grown to 34,959 on Thursday. Sri Lanka’s total since March is about 38,600.
AP
One of India’s oldest COVID-19 survivors dies of age-related ailments
The country’s first oldest COVID-19 survivor Thomas Abraham died of age-related ailments on Thursday, his family said. The 93-year-old died in Ranni village in Pathanamthitta district and the funeral would be held at a church at Aithala on Friday. He is survived by his wife and three children. The recovery of the 93-year-old Abraham and his 88- year-old wife after a battle against coronavirus in March this year was dubbed by the medical community as a miracle cure. They were discharged from the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, on 3 April.
Three cops suspended over music event in Gujarat
Three policemen have been suspended for failing to stop a music event at the Vadgamda village in Tharad taluka of Banaskantha district in Gujarat where COVID-19 prevention norms were allegedly flouted, a senior official said on Thursday. Some videos which went viral on social media showed around 200 people, many without masks, sitting close to each other at the folk music event which took place on Wednesday night
The main organiser of the event has been arrested and the police have lodged an FIR against 12 people under the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act, Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Tarun Kumar Duggal said. “Such programmes are not at all permitted in the wake of the COVID-19 situation. For failing to act in time, we have placed a sub-inspector of that area and two head constables under suspension after the matter came to light today,” the official said.
PTI
Night curfew in Karnataka withdrawn
In a U-turn, Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa said that the night curfew in the state from tonight has been withdrawn after Cabinet colleagues and senior officials opined it was not needed, reports news agency PTI. The night curfew was to come into effect from 11 pm to 5 am from tonight to 1 January.
In a statement, Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said: “In view of the public opinion that there was no need for night curfew, the decision was reviewed and after consulting with Cabinet colleagues and senior officials it has been decided to withdraw the night curfew,” Yediyurappa said. The chief minister appealed to the people to exercise self-restraint by wearing facemasks, hand hygiene and social distancing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Asymptomatic passengers won’t be tested on arrival: Maharashtra govt
Asymptomatic passengers arriving from Europe,South Africa and tWest Asia will not be subjected to RT- PCR test for coronavirus immediately upon arrival, the Maharashtra government has said in a fresh circular, amending the SOPs issued on 21 December. RT-PCR test for such persons will be conducted at the hotel where the passenger is quarantined, between 5th and 7th day, it said, adding that the cost of test will be borne by the passenger. If the report is negative the passenger will be discharged from institutional quarantine but he or she will have to stay in isolation at home for further seven days. If the result is positive but the patient is still asymptomatic, he or she will stay in institutional quarantine at the same hotel or at COVID-19 hospital for 14 days, the
circular said.
China to suspend UK flights
China will suspend flights to and from the UK, joining a growing list of countries who have instituted travel bans, in light of a new variant of the coronavirus, its Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday. It did not offer details on when flights would stop. On Tuesday, the Chinese Visa Application Service Centre in London said it will suspend its operation until further notice. Non-Chinese passport holders from the UK were already banned from travelling to China in November
Another coronavirus variant appears to have emerged in Nigeria: Africa CDC
Another new variant of the coronavirus appears to have emerged in Nigeria, Africa’s top public health official said on Thursday, but added that further investigation was needed, according to news agency The Associated Press. The discovery could add to new alarm in the pandemic after similar variants were announced in Britain and South Africa, leading to the swift return of international travel restrictions and other measures just as the world enters a major holiday season.
“It’s a separate lineage from the UK and South Africa,” the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, John Nkengasong, told reporters. He said the Nigeria CDC and the African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Africa’s most populous country will be analyzing more samples. “Give us some time … it’s still very early,” he said.
Russia reports record 29,935 fresh cases
Russian authorities reported 29,935 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily spike in the pandemic. This is nearly 2,700 infections more than was registered the previous day. Russia’s total of over 2.9 million remains the fourth largest coronavirus caseload in the world. The government’s coronavirus task force has also registered more than 53,000 deaths in all.
AP
COVID positive UK returnees to be kept at ESI hospital in South Goa, says Rane
The Goa government has decided to designate the ESI Hospital in South Goa district for the purpose of keeping all the patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 after their arrival from the UK, reports news agency PTI quoting state health minister Vishwajit Rane. As per the news agency, a senior Goa health official said they would ask the state government to sanction one lakh more RT- PCR test kits to tide over any possible shortage. “The state government has to be prepared for mass testing, if required,” the official said.
Eleven UK returnees found COVID positive in Goa since 9 Dec, says Vishwajit Rane
Amid concerns over a new coronavirus variant detected in Britain, Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane told news agency PTI that 11 of the passengers who arrived in Goa from the UK after 9 December have tested positive for COVID-19 so far.
“As per guidelines, RT-PCR testing of 979 passengers who came after 9 December is going on. Nine passengers were initially found positive for COVID-19 after their arrival from the UK, while two more subsequently approached after being symptomatic and have tested positive,” the minister said. Samples of these patients have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for further testing, said Rane, who is in Mumbai for his health checkup.
Earlier, in the morning, an official from the state Directorate of Health Services said they are trying to track down 602 people who arrived in the state from the UK and the UAE since 9 December.
Fifteen more test positive in Mizoram
Fifteen more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram on Thursday, taking the tally of coronavirus cases in the state to 4,156, reports news agency PTI quoting a health department official. Of the fresh cases, 11 were reported from Aizawl, three from Kolasib and one from Lawngtlai districts, he said. Ten new patients have travel history, while three were detected during contact tracing and it is yet to be ascertained how the remaining two persons contracted the
disease, the official said adding that the new patients were asymptomatic.
COVID-19 positive UK returnee in Chennai stable, says health official
The result of genomic analysis of a sample from a United Kingdom returnee, who tested COVID-19 positive in Chennai, could be expected next week, according to the National Institute of Virology and Tamil Nadu has requested the research facility to expedite it, a senior health official told news agency PTI. The returnee from UK, who days ago tested positive, continues to be treated at the King’s Institute for Preventive Medicine and Research and he is stable and doing well, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said. Asked about the genomic analysis result of the sample sent to the Pune-based NIV, he said institute authorities have indicated that it may be expected on 28 December and Tamil Nadu has requested it to expedite availability of result. “We are talking with them (NIV) continously. This is genomic analysis. There are several mutations which has to be studied,” he said, noting that the process is complex and hence may require more time.
Adityanath directs authorities to maintain extra vigil at airports
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed authorities to maintain extra vigil especially at airports amid concerns over a new strain of coronavirus spreading in the UK. Adityanath held a high-level meeting with senior officials and directed that arrangements be made for proper treatment of COVID-19 patients, an official release issued said. The chief minister also said that there was a need to upgrade laboratories and develop necessary expertise to deal with the new strain of the virus.
PTI
Will talk to airport authorities: Satyendar Jain on two COVID-positive flyers from UK slipping out
Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said the city government will approach airport authorities over a report that two COVID-positive flyers from the UK had slipped out from the airport. At a press conference, asked about the report that two passengers from the UK, who had landed at Delhi airport on Tuesday, had further travelled to Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, despite testing positive for COVID-19, Jain said, “I have also read about it in the newspaper today”. “Flight operations and security is there is under the airport authorities… But, a person who has tested positive, should not have moved out,” Jain said.
Asked about the responsibility of the nodal officer for COVID-19 at the Delhi airport, the health minister said, “We will talk to airport authorities about it”. According to the report, the two UK flyers, who had “slipped out”, have been traced and “brought back” to Delhi.
PTI
COVID-19 positive UK returnee reaches Andhra Pradesh from Delhi
A COVID-19 positive woman who allegedly managed to give the slip to authorities at a quarantine facility in Delhi after her arrival from the UK recently and reach her hometown Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh by train has been picked up and admitted to a hospital along with her son, officials said on Thursday. Their swab samples are being sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune to determine whether she contracted the new strain of COVID-19, detected in the United Kingdom, a Health department official said. The country is on a high alert following the detection of the new virulent, “out of control” strain of coronavirus in the UK and has initiaited various measures including rigorous testing of those who had arrived from England recently.
PTI
Will talk to airport authorities: Satyendar Jain on two COVID-positive flyers from UK slipping out
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said the city government will approach airport authorities here over a report that two COVID-positive flyers from the UK had slipped out from the airport.
Amid mounting concern over a new strain of the virus detected in UK, the Delhi government on Tuesday had said people who have arrived here recently from that country, are being traced and tested, while an institutional quarantine facility was being set up separately for positive cases at the LNJP Hospital.
At a press conference, asked about the report that two passengers from the UK, who had landed at Delhi airport on Tuesday, had further travelled to Punjab and Andhra Pradesh, despite testing positive for COVID-19, Jain said, “I have also read about it in the newspaper today.”
Goa set for Christmas celebration with COVID-19 norms in place
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Goa is all set to usher in Christmas festivities from Thursday midnight with beaches already crowded and markets abuzz with last-minute shopping by parishioners.
Churches and chapels in Goa, which comprises about 30 percent people of Christian faith, are geared up for the midnight masses, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, while adhering to the standard operating procedures laid down by the
state government.
Residents of Nuvem village in South Goa district have put up Christmas stars along the three-km stretch on a national highway connecting capital city Panaji with Margao.
Tamil Nadu govt readies priority list for vaccine rollout
A list of people who should be inoculated on priority in Tamil Nadu is ready and 21,000 personnel were being trained and 46,000 centres identified in the state for the rollout of the immunisation exercise after the vaccine is made available, a top state health official said here on Thursday.
Panel suggests ICU beds reserved in 33 pvt hospitals be reduced to 60%, AAP govt tells HC
The AAP government informed the Delhi High Court on Thursday that an expert committee has recommended reducing, from 80 percent to 60 percent, the number of ICU beds reserved for COVID-19 patients in private hospitals in the National Capital.
The Delhi government placed before Justice Navin Chawla the decision taken on Wednesday by the De-escalation Committee (COVID-19) which was constituted to assess the current position of hospital admissions and discharges and recommend reduction in the number of beds dedicated for coronavirus patients, if required.
The committee has recommended that “de-escalation may be carried out in a graded manner preferably in Delhi government and private sector hospitals”, but not in central government hospitals, the high court was informed by Delhi government additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose and advocate Urvi Mohan.
Delhi has storage capacity for 74 lakh COVID-19 doses: Kejriwal
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the each frontline worker would be given two doses, and therefore 1.02 crore doses would be required in the first phase of vaccination.
He also said that the government currently has the capacity to store 74 lakh doses but that would be increased to 1.15 crore within a week.
Delhi govt fully prepared to receive, store and give vaccine: Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said that his government was prepared to receive, store and provide vaccines to the priority category persons in the city. He stated that there were 51 lakh people including healthcare and frontline workers who would get vaccine in the first phase.
SpiceJet ties up with GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo for delivery of COVID-19 vaccine
Low cost carrier SpiceJet on Thursday announced that it has signed an MoU with GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo (GHAC), a GMR group company,for providing a seamless service to all vaccine manufacturers in the region.
As part of this association, SpiceXpress the cargo arm of SpiceJet envisions to provide efficient, speedy and reliable solutions for vaccine delivery, while also creating a sustainable cold chain network.
SpiceXpress aims to provide the first mile pick up and last mile delivery to carry COVID19 vaccines across the domestic and international markets in a temperature controlled environment, a press release from the airlines said.
Darjeeling toy train service will resume from Christmas
Much to the delight of tourists in the festive season, joy rides of the famed toy train of Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (DHR) will resume from Christmas, a Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) official said on Thursday.
Three daily joy ride services will be run between Darjeeling and Ghum stations from Friday, the NFR spokesman said from Maligaon.
“The West Bengal government has given permission for the resumption of joy ride services between Darjeeling and Ghum at present,” he said.
Kerala govt moves SC against HC order increasing number of pilgrims to Sabarimala temple
The Kerala government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the state high court’s verdict which had directed it to increase the number of pilgrims to the historic Sabarimala temple to 5,000 per day, saying it will put a “great strain” on police personnel and health officials in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state government, in its petition filed in the apex court against the 18 December judgment of the Kerala High Court, has said the state had constituted a high-level committee headed by the chief secretary which had set the number of pilgrims per day to 2,000 on weekdays and 3,000 on weekends respectively.
It said that to control the COVID-19 pandemic during the Sabarimala temple festival season between 20 December and 14 January next year, the state had constituted the high-level committee to consider all aspects and to fix the number of pilgrims who can be permitted per day to visit the shrine.
Meghalaya bars entry of travellers from UK
Amid concerns over the detection of a mutated and more infectious strain of COVID-19 in the UK, the Meghalaya government has barred the entry of individuals from the European country into the state.
The government has also urged people who have recently returned from Britain or transited through the country to stay
in isolation and inform the government about their travel history, according to an official order.
“Tourists coming from the UK are prohibited from entering the state with immediate effect in view of the new highly infectious COVID-19 strain,” said Chief Secretary MS Rao.