India has reported 11,793 new covid- 19 cases in last 24 hours with the number of active cases constituting 0.22% of the total number of cases. The country also registered 27 fresh Covid deaths. This, however, includes 13 backlog fatalities. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare states that over 86.14 crore covid tests have been conducted so far with a weekly positivity rate at 3.36% and a daily positivity rate at 2.49%. As of today, India’s recovery rate stands at 98.57%.
The Tamil Nadu government has made masks mandatory in the state yet again to deal with the rise in Covid-19 cases in the state. According to a press release from the department of health and family welfare, action will be taken against those not wearing masks and not following all Covid-19 precautionary measures. Maharashtra had on Monday reported 2,369 new Covid cases and five deaths, all of which took place in Mumbai, taking the overall tally in the state to 79,65,035 and the toll to 1,47,910, a health department official said. The state had logged 6,493 cases on Sunday, though the spike was due to several cases from the previous day being added to the tally after to a glitch in the ICMR portal.
Delhi, meanwhile, reported 628 new Covid cases and three more deaths due to the infection on Monday, while the positivity rate stood at 8.06 percent, according to data shared by the city health department here. The fresh cases were detected out of 7,793 Covid tests conducted the previous day.
Amid a surge in covid infections in some states, India’s cumulative vaccination coverage exceeded the 197.31 Cr mark. And over 3.64 Crore first dose vaccines were administered for the age group of 12-14 years.
The daily Covid-19 cases crossed the three-figure mark in Odisha on Tuesday after more than four months. According to data shared by the Information & Public Relations Department, Odisha on Tuesday reported 113 fresh Covid-19 cases in six districts of the state in the last 24 hours. Khordha district registered the highest 65 Covid-19 cases followed by Cuttack which recorded 21 new cases. Sundergarh district recorded six new cases whereas Puri, Jajpur and Sambalpur witnessed 1, 2 and 4 cases respectively. There were 14 cases from State Pool. The people from other states residing in Odisha and testing positive are reported as Pool cases. The daily infections jumped by 44 compared to 69 detected on Monday. Out of the total 113 cases, 67 are quarantine cases while the rest 46 are local contacts. Currently, there are 517 active cases in the state. Till now, the state has recorded 12,89,441 confirmed cases, of which 12,79,745 patients have recovered and 9,126 succumbed to the virus. Another 53 Covid-19 patients have died due to other reasons, the health department said. Meanwhile, the state government has again appealed to the people to use masks and avoid visiting crowded places.
While the Covid-19 pandemic was hard for all, children belonging to the most marginalised section in India were the worst affected as it led to their increased isolation, affecting their mental health significantly, according to a report on Tuesday. The report by non-profit Save the Children-Bal Raksha Bharat showed an increase in feelings of loneliness, anxiety, anger, grief and substance and sexual abuse among children. About 44 per cent of children reported that they could not share their sorrow/anger/stress-related feelings with anyone and three out of four children could not share serious concerns like domestic/spousal violence with anyone. Isolation from the peer group had a major impact on the mental well-being of the children with increased cases of child labour and substance abuse as they struggle to cope with a lack of coping mechanisms to express their feelings and thoughts. A significant number of child also reported abuse, as they noted fear of being left alone with a given person (27 per cent), sudden emotional or behavioural change (27 per cent), abandonment of previous play habits (29 per cent), genital/anal injuries (15 per cent).
For the report, 4,052 respondents (2,743 adults and 1,309 adolescents) spread across 24 districts across six states namely, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Assam were surveyed between June 2020 to December 2021.
To arrest surge in Covid cases, the Karnataka government is mulling action against those violating the mask rule. The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Covid-19 has recommended the measure to contain the possible pandemic situation in the state. The health department is seriously considering the advice and is expected to take call on it in a week. The recommendation was made in the wake of a spike in the number of Covid cases and finding of the sub lineages of Omicron. During the second wave, the government had imposed a Rs 250 fine on the people for not wearing masks. Compared to other parts of the state, the majority of new Covid cases are being reported from Bengaluru which accounts for 96 per cent fresh cases. The number of containment zones have swelled to 33 in the city. It is likely that the mask rule (with fine) will be implemented here first. Though the state government in its June 10 order has directed authorities to implement the mask rule with the help of police and local bodies, it has had very little impact. Meanwhile, the number of cases has crossed 800-mark and the positivity rate for the day is nearing 4 per cent. The finding of sub lineages of Omicron, BA3, BA4 and BA5 in the state is also one of the reasons why the government is seriously contemplating imposing a fine on mask rule violations.
Covid-related hospitalisations claimed lives of middle-aged to elderly Indians more frequently than people of the same age groups in other regions of the world, according to a new study. The study, led by the World Heart Federation in association with the Public Health Foundation of India, revealed that a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among Indians are the major drivers of the increased mortality. The study included 40 hospitals from 23 countries, with 5,313 patients admitted with Covid and aimed to bridge the research gap between low and high-income countries. The findings, published in the journal Global Heart, showed that during the pandemic Indians had nearly three times higher mortality due to Covid hospitalisation, than the European population. However, the number was less than the Hispanics and Blacks. The study demonstrated that patients were relatively younger as compared to previous research (where the average age was 57 years), predominantly middle aged men, with high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension diabetes and high mortality up to 30 days.
Mohalla Clinics will now serve as vaccination centres as well in order to boost the inoculation drive in the national capital and make precaution doses more accessible.
Mohalla Clinics are located in the heart of populous areas of the city, access will be more convenient for swifter vaccination process. S
Vaccination centres will be set up across all Mohalla Clinics. The state has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to achieve optimal coverage of vaccination of all eligible beneficiaries. Currently, vaccination is being provided in a mission mode, but still a cohort of population is due for the second dose and significantly, a higher cohort is due for the newly added precaution dose. Addition of vaccination centres at Mohalla clinics will help us achieve the higher vaccination target soon,” said Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
Sisodia said all Mohalla Clinic staff will be trained accordingly. They will be responsible for carrying out the vaccinations. The responsibility of the Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics will be to provide adequate space for the vaccination site.
As soon as the vaccination centres are functional, they will be uploaded on the CoWin portal.
A COVID-19 outbreak has hit the All Blacks squad ahead of first rugby test against Ireland has broadened. Head coach Ian Foster, assistants John Plumtree and Scott McLeod and players David Havili, Jack Goodhue and Will Jordan are isolating after testing positive. Jordan, was certain to start in Saturdays test at Aucklands Eden Park, His loss is a major blow to the All Blacks.
Assistant coaches Greg Feek and Brad Mooar currently are coaching the All Blacks team while Foster, Plumtree and McLeod isolate at home. Former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who was due to join the team later this year, has started early to assist the depleted coaching group.
Nearly 330,000 child Covid-19 cases were reported in the US in the past one month, according to the latest report by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association. Nearly 68,000 child cases were reported for the week ending June 23, far higher than one year ago, the week of June 24, 2021, when 8,400 infections were registered, Xinhua news agency quoted the report as saying. Approximately 5.8 million child Covid-19 cases had been added in the US this year, according to the report. Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, some 13.6 million children in the US have tested positive for the virus. There is an urgent need to collect more age-specific data to assess the severity of illness related to new variants as well as potential longer-term effects, said the AAP.
