Coronavirus Latest News LIVE Updates: Among the southern states, Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana have already extended their lockdown, while Andhra Pradesh will continue to have curfew. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that 28,514 new COVID-19 cases, 45,400 recoveries and 176 deaths were reported in the state. The total recoveries rose to 20,25,319 and the toll rose to 7170. Active cases stand at 2,89,283. “Triple lockdown will continue in Malappuram district. Restrictions will be tightened as test positivity rate is high. We’ll conduct tests among 75,000 people on Monday & Tuesday. More police force will be deployed, directed them to take strict action against violators,” he said. “There are only seven states that are reporting more than 10,000 cases and six states with 5,000-10,000 cases. Six states are reporting a high number of deaths. These are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, UP, Punjab and Delhi,” said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry. “There are more than 93 districts where declining case positivity is being noted,” he added. Union Health Ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said that the production of the drug amphotericin B, being used in the treatment of black fungus cases, is being boosted. “Amphotericin B was available in the country in limited supply. Its availability and supply is now being increased. Ministry of Pharma is coordinating with Ministry of Health for providing license to 5 additional manufacturers. “The existing manufacturers are working towards increasing their capacity and production capacity,” Agarwal said. Making the announcement on Saturday, CM MK Stalin said this will be followed by another week-long lockdown with some relaxation. The DMK government in Tamil Nadu has decided to extend the COVID-19 lockdown’s stringent measures for a week from 24 May. Stalin, who chaired a meeting with the MLAs of all parties, discussed the ways to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the MLAs have offered support to the government’s decision. The current lockdown comes to an end on the morning May 2. Earlier this week, the top medical body reported 270 doctors have died due to coronavirus. Among them was former IMA president Dr KK Aggarwal. The Indian Medical Association has said 420 doctors, including 100 in Delhi, have succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the second wave of the pandemic. The coronavirus cases in the National Capital have been on decline recently after an overwhelming crisis in April. At least 96 doctors have died in Bihar and 41 in Uttar Pradesh, the doctors’ association was quoted as saying by ANI. Even as the rate of infection slowed down, India’s daily COVID-19 fatality rate remained high. As many as 4,194 patients succumbed to the novel coronavirus in a matter of 24 hours, taking the country’s toll to 2.95 lakh. India’s active COVID-19 caseload fell below the 30-lakh-mark for the first time in over three weeks as recoveries continued to outpace newly reported infections. Over 2.57 lakh people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry’s update on Saturday. Recoveries during the same period were significantly higher with 3.57 lakh discharges. As a result, active cases in the country fell to 29.23 lakh — the lowest since 28 April. They still account for more than 11 percent of the country’s total caseload. Tamil Nadu on Friday reported 36,184 new coronavirus infections, taking the overall count to 17.70 lakh. The daily cases was 1 percent higher than Thursday’s tally of 35,579, which was its highest ever. Maharashtra reported 29,644 new coronavirus infections and 555 fatalities on Friday, which took its cumulative tally to 55,27,092 and toll to 86,618, the state health department said. The state witnessed a drop of 267 cases as compared to Thursday, when it had recorded 29,911 cases. This was the second consecutive day when the state reported less than 30,000 daily cases. India registered 2,57,299 fresh coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, pushing the cumulative tally over 2.62 crore, said the Union health ministry on Saturday. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has surpassed 19.32 crore, the Union health ministry said on Friday. It said 6,63,353 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received their first dose on Friday, and cumulatively 92,73,550 across 37 states and UTs since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive. The 92,73,550 beneficiaries include 11,83,124 from Rajasthan, 10,60,702 from Bihar, 8,85,881 from Delhi, 6,82,744 from Maharashtra, 9,60,032 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,71,800 from Haryana and 6,02,691 from Gujarat. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 19,32,97,222, according to the provisional report updated till 8 pm. The total of 19,32,97,222 include 97,37,237 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose and 66,89,893 HCWs who have taken the second dose. It also includes 1,48,63,770 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose, 83,05,152 FLWs who have taken the second dose, and 92,73,550 individuals in the 18-44 years of age group who have received the first dose. Besides, 6,01,86,416 and, 96,79,427 beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 years old have been administered the first and second dose respectively, while, 5,63,74,895 and 1,81,86,882 beneficiaries above 60 years have taken the first and second dose. As on 126th day of the vaccination drive (21 May), a total of 13,83,358 vaccine doses were given. The ministry said 12,05,727 beneficiaries were vaccinated for the first dose and 1,77,631 beneficiaries received the second dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 8 pm. Final reports would be completed for the day by late night. The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined.
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