NEW DELHI: India on Saturday reported 44,111 daily new Covid-19 cases, pushing the country’s caseload to 3,05,02,362.
With 738 fatalities, the lowest in 86 days, the death toll stands at 4,01,050.
The active cases — 4,95,533 — were recorded below five lakh after 97 days and comprised 1.62 percent of the total infections.
The national Covid-19 recovery rate improved to 97.06 percent.
A net decline of 14,104 cases has been recorded in active coronavirus infections in a span of 24 hours.
Here are the latest Covid related developments across the country:Centre sanctions funds from PM Cares for new vaccine-testing labThe Union minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy on Saturday said that the government has sanctioned funds from the PM Cares Fund for setting up a vaccine-testing laboratory.
“I thank Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji for sanctioning funds for setting up of Vaccine Testing Lab at Hyderabad.
A big step forward towards comprehensive development of pharma sector in Hyderabad, which will also boost production of Covid-19 vaccines,” Reddy, a Lok Sabha member from Secunderabad, tweeted.
The increased focus on vaccine production against the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic has necessitated more vaccine- testing laboratories in the country, Reddy said.
At present, there are two vaccine-testing laboratories in the country — the Central Drug Laboratory at Kasauli and National Institute of Biologicals at Noida, he said.
Funds have been released from the PM Cares Fund on March 6 for establishing two more such laboratories — one at National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, and the other at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology, Hyderabad, under the Department of Biotechnology, he said.
‘Covaxin is 77.8% effective, provides 65.2% protection against Delta variant’Bharat Biotech on Saturday said that the phase-III trials of Covaxin showed it was 93.4% effective against severe symptomatic Covid-19.
The data demonstrated 65.2% protection against the Delta variant, first identified in India.
The Delta variant had led to a surge in infections in April and May, and the world’s highest daily death tolls.\ It further showed an effectiveness of 77.8% against symptomatic Covid-19 in the trial.
Covid-19 third wave will be ‘ripple’ in absence of faster spreading mutant: Study The third wave of Covid-19 will be a “ripple” but only if there is no significantly faster-spreading mutant, according to projections of the ‘Sutra’ model for Covid-19.
According to the Sutra analysis, if there is a faster-spreading mutant, the magnitude of the third wave will be “comparable to the first one”.
Maninder Agarwal, Professor, IIT-Kanpur, who was part of the team of scientists behind the Sutra analysis, said that they have created three scenarios.
The third wave will be a ripple.
If there is no significantly faster-spreading mutant, the third wave will be a ripple and if there is such a mutant, the third wave will be comparable to the first one,” he said.
Karnataka further eases restrictions; night curfew liftedKarnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Saturday announced further lockdown relaxation in the state.
The night curfew has been lifted while the government offices are permitted to reopen from now on.
The relaxations would be in place for the next 15 days from July 6, chief minister B S Yediyurappa said after chairing a meeting with his Cabinet colleagues and senior officials on Saturday.
Theatres, cinemas and pubs would remain closed while swimming pools would be opened only for competitive training purpose.
Further, sports complexes and stadia shall be opened only for the purpose of practice whereas social, political, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other gatherings and large congregations have been prohibited.
Weddings and family functions are permitted with the presence of not more than 100 people.
Places of worship are allowed to open only for ‘darshan’ not for ‘sevas.’ The order said cremation and funerals would be allowed with a maximum of 20 people while public transport is allowed to operate up to its seating capacity.
Meanwhile, the district administration can apply more restrictions, the chief minister added.
‘Progressive decline in Covid-19 cases in northeast’Union minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday said there is a progressive decline in Covid-19 cases in all eight northeastern states but cautioned that the fall in active cases must be followed with greater thrust on vaccination and strict observance of relevant protocols.
At a review meeting with health secretaries of all the eight northeastern states – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Sikkim – Singh expressed satisfaction that they were catching up with the national average in terms of the decline in positivity rate.
Meghalaya is the only exception which witnessed a surge due to the Covid-19 cases at a prison in Ri-bhoi district, he said.
There is a progressive decline in Covid-19 cases in all the eight north-eastern states, the minister added.