India reports 1.86 lakh new COVID-19 cases, lowest daily spike in 44 days; positivity rate down at 9%

With over 1.86 lakh people testing positive for the novel coronavirus, India on Friday reported the lowest single-day COVID-19 rise in 44 days, pushing its cumulative caseload above 2.75 crore, the Union health ministry said. The fatality count also saw a decline in the past 24 hours with 3,660 people succumbing to the disease as compared to 3,847 deaths reported on Thursday. The total fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic now reached 3,18,895. The daily positivity rate has come down to 9 percent and has been lower than 10 percent for four straight days now. The weekly positivity rate stands at 10.42 percent. For the 15th straight day, daily recoveries are more than the number of daily infections. Over 2.59 people recovered from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. The total number of recoveries now stands at 2,48,93,410 and the recovery rate has increased to 90.34 percent. Around 20.70 lakh COVID-19 samples were tested in the country on 27 May (the results for which were made available on 28 May), which is over 87,000 fewer tests conducted as compared to Wednesday. The figure stood at 21,57,857 on 26 May. India has tested 33,90,39,861 samples for COVID-19 until now, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). DGCA extends ban on international flights till 30 June The government on Friday extended the suspension of scheduled international flights till June 30, 2021. “However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis,” said the aviation regulator on Friday. Scheduled international flights were suspended on 23 March 2020. Imported COVID-19 relief items to be exempted from GST till 31 August: FM The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman decided to exempt IGST on import of COVID-related supplies till 31 August. Sitharaman said that the council decided to put Amphotericin B, a key medicine for the treatment of black fungus, in the list of items exempted from IGST. Indian Immunological Ltd to begin production of Covaxin drug substance from 15 June Indian Immunologicals Ltd (IIL) is expected to start production of the drug substance required for manufacturing indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin from 15 June, which it will supply to Bharat Biotech International Ltd to process it into a formulation, by July. The IIL will start with 2-3 million doses per month and will be ramping this up to 6-7 million doses per month by the end of the year and eventually scale it up to 10-15 million doses per month, said managing director Dr Anand Kumar on Friday Bharat Biotech has tied up with Hyderabad-based IIL, which is a facility set up under National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), for manufacturing the drug substance of COVAXIN as part of efforts to ramp up production of the vaccine. DRDO’s anti-Covid drug to be rolled out at Rs 990 per sachet Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) anti-Covid-19 drug will be sold at Rs 990 per sachet by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL), officials said on Friday. The Hyderabad-based pharma company, however, will provide the medicine to Centre and state government at a discounted price. India receives 50,000 Amphotericin-B vials from US pharma firms Amid shortages in the availability of Amphotericin-B, a medicine used in the treatment of black fungus, over 50,000 vials of have arrived in India from abroad, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L Mandaviya said on Friday. Amphotericin-B is used to treat Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, which damages the nose, eyes, sinuses, and sometimes even the brain. “50,000 vials of Amphotericin B arrives at Mumbai Airport. We are putting in a lot of efforts to meet its requirement in the country. I am thankful to Gilead Sciences and Mylan News for their outstanding support in India’s fight against COVID-19 ,” Mandaviya said in a tweet. Sputnik V to be priced at Rs 1,195 per dose in Apollo hospitals Apollo Group of Hospitals has announced that it will start administering Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine for COVID-19, across its hospitals in India from the second week of June, at an estimated price of Rs 1,195 per dose, ANI reported on Friday. “We will be charging Rs 995 for the vaccine and Rs 200 would be administration charges,” an official of the Apollo Group said. Delhi to begin easing lockdown curbs gradually from 31 May: Kejriwal Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said Delhi has gained control over the second wave of COVID-19 and the government will start the process of lifting the lockdown gradually, with the resumption of construction activities and reopening of factories for one week from Monday. “It is time to start the unlock process. It should not be the case that people escape coronavirus but die of hunger… We have to maintain a balance between controlling the spread of coronavirus and allowing economic activities,” Kejriwal said. Delhi’s single-day COVID-19 tally remains below 1,500 for third straight day Delhi registered 1,141 cases of coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, with an increase in positivity rate to 1.59 percent. The city conducted 71,853 tests in a day. This is the third consecutive day when the daily cases count have stood below the 1,500-mark. The daily deaths due to the virus increased to 139, the state’s health bulletin said. On Thursday, 1,072 new cases and 117 deaths were reported, while the positivity rate had dipped to 1.53 percent. AP makes installation of PSA plants mandatory for private hospitals The Andhra Pradesh government on Friday made it mandatory for private hospitals and nursing homes to install Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) technology oxygen plants in proportion to their bed strength. Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal issued an order on this and prescribed the minimum standards for equipment and furniture for hospitals based on the bed strength. Every hospital with more than 100 beds will have to install a 1,000 Litres Per Minute (LPM) PSA oxygen plant and those with 50 beds, a 500 LPM plant, according to the order. Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till 7 June Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Friday announced the extension of the COVID-19 lockdown across the state by another week till 6 am on 7 June albeit with a few relaxations. Stalin announced that provision stores would be allowed to sell essential supplies through carts or vehicles in their respective localities with permission from local bodies. “The provision stores are also allowed to receive orders either online or over phone and deliver supplies at the customer’s residence between 7 am and 6 pm,” the chief minister said. Maharashtra extends lockdown-like curbs by two weeks As lockdown-like restrictions in Maharashtra are extended for the next two weeks, a new set of guidelines will be issued on 1 June, state health minister Rajesh Tope said on Friday. “As far as lockdown is concerned, 15 days’ extension has been given, but the guidelines related to it will be issued on 1 June,” Tope was quoted as saying by PTI. No relaxation will be given in the areas where the number of patients and positivity rate are still high and hospital bed availability is an issue, he said. Mumbai reports 929 new cases, lowest single-day rise since 2 March Mumbai’s single-day coronavirus cases Friday dropped below 1,000 after over 11 weeks. The city on Friday reported 929 cases, its lowest since 2 March. Mumbai had reported 849 cases on 2 March. The next few weeks proved challenging as it was hit by an unprecedented surge. The city also reported 30 deaths over the 24-hour period, the state public health department said in its daily bulletin. The recovery rate improved to 94 percent, it said, adding, the doubling rate stands at 370 days. Over 20.86 crore vaccines administered in India so far: Centre The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 20.86 crore, the Union health ministry said on Friday. Out of these, 29,19,699 vaccines were given on Thursday alone. With inputs from agencies