COVID-19 news: 51 cases of Delta Plus variant in 12 states, says Centre; Uttarakhand postpones Char Dham Yatra

As India grapples with the deadly Delta Plus variant of COVID-19, the Centre on Tuesday said that the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 can have about 15 to 17 mutations. The government also said that 51 cases of the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 had been found in 12 states. VK Paul during a routine health briefing said that there are 51 cases of Delta plus variant found in 12 states, adding that there is no scientific data available to show that the variant is more transmissible or if vaccines work on it. The states where the variant has been found are Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Rajasthan, Jammu, Karnataka, and Haryana.

51 cases of #DeltaPlusVariant have been reported in 12 States - MP, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Rajasthan, Jammu, Karnataka, and Haryana (Data as of June 28)

- Dr. VK Paul, Member (Health), @NITIAayog #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/v9Rf062de9

— PIB India (@PIB_India) June 29, 2021

About 49 percent of the population aged 60 years and above has been vaccinated with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, the government said on Tuesday. Of estimated 59.7 crore people in the age group of 18-44 years, about 15 percent have been vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine, it said. Cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 33.1 crore so far, the government said. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Moderna was granted restricted emergency-use permission in India, Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul announced on Tuesday.  Cipla has sought indemnity in case of any adverse effects or complications caused by the Moderna vaccine. “There are four vaccines (against COVID-19 ) now Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik-V and Moderna. We will soon close the deal on Pfizer as well,” _ANI_ quoted Paul as saying. This, as India, logged in 37,566 new cases , while the COVID-19 toll rose to 3,97,637 with 907 daily fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am. The COVID-19 infection tally now stands at 3,03,16,897. The number of active cases has further declined to 5,52,659, comprising 1.82 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.87 percent. A net decline of 20,335 cases has been recorded in the COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. ‘Focus on five-fold strategy of COVID-19 management’ The Centre asked the states on Tuesday to focus on the five-fold strategy for effective COVID-19 management and said the process of relaxing restrictions should be carefully calibrated. In an advisory to all the state governments and Union Territory administrations on COVID-19 management for the month of July, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also said the states should regularly monitor the districts with a high number of active coronavirus cases per million (10 lakh) population as it is an important indicator to predict the need for upgrading the health infrastructure and logistics, so that early and prompt action can be taken. He said with the decline in the number of active coronavirus cases, many states have started relaxing the restrictions. Bhalla said the process of relaxing the restrictions should be “carefully calibrated”, and prompt and targeted action needs to be taken by the states, in line with the advisory issued by the Union health ministry.

MHA Order 29.6.2021 for Containment of Covid 19 by Manasi Chandu on Scribd

Guidelines issued for administering vaccine to pregnant women The Union Health Ministry has prepared a fact-sheet to guide frontline workers and vaccinators on counselling pregnant women about the value and precautions of the COVID-19 vaccine so that they can make an informed decision. Although more than 90 percent of infected pregnant women recover without any need for hospitalisation, rapid deterioration in health may occur in a few and that might affect the foetus also, the document said. “It is, therefore, advised that a pregnant woman should take COVID-19 vaccine,” it said. However, pregnancy does not increase the risk of COVID-19 infection, the document stressed. Symptomatic pregnant women appear to be at an increased risk of severe disease and death. In case of severe disease, like all other patients, pregnant women shall also need hospitalisation. Not received request for approving Covishield for ‘vaccination passport’, says EU Individual member states of the European Union will have the option to accept vaccines authorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) like Covishield for obtaining the bloc’s digital COVID certificate or ‘Green Pass’, an EU official said on Tuesday. The official said the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has not received an authorisation request till Monday for the Covishield vaccine manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII). In a meeting with the EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in Italy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar underlined the importance of “equitable vaccine access and a fair travel regime”. The Covishield vaccine is yet to be cleared by the EMA. There have been apprehensions in India that people who took Covishield jabs are unlikely to be eligible to travel to the European Union member states under its ‘Green Pass’ scheme. The EU Digital COVID certificate or ‘Green Pass’ will be mandatory to travel to European countries and the document will serve as proof that a person is vaccinated against COVID-19. Punjab extends lockdown till 10 July With cases of Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 coming to light, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered extension of the coronavirus restrictions till 10 July, with certain more relaxations, including the opening of bars, pubs with 50 percent capacity, beginning 1 July. Skill development centres and universities have also been allowed to open with conditions that staff and students must have taken at least one dose of vaccine. IELTS coaching institutes were already allowed to be opened, subject to students and staff have taken at least one dose of vaccine, the press release said. Uttarakhand postpones Char Dham Yatra The Uttarakhand government on Tuesday postponed the Char Dham Yatra till further orders, reported ANI. The Tirath Singh Rawat government had earlier issued a fresh set of Covid-19 related guidelines for the pilgrimage despite a Uttarakhand High Court order putting a stay on it. As per the government, the COVID negative report is mandatory for those undertaking the yatra. The state High Court on Monday had stayed the state Cabinet’s decision permitting Char Dham yatra with a limited number of pilgrims and had also ordered live streaming of Char Dham shrines. The standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been issued for the residents of Rudraprayag, Chamoli and Uttarkashi. With inputs from PTI