In a curious case, one district in Kerala has reported more than 5,000 cases of Covid-19 reinfections after two doses of the vaccine, prompting the central government to initiate a probe into the dynamics of the disease at Pathanamthitta.
Jammu and Kashmir's Covid-19 tally increased to 3,22,771 on Tuesday with 113 fresh cases while the death toll climbed to 4,392 as two more people succumbed to the disease, officials said.
Of the fresh cases, 40 were reported from the Jammu division and 73 from the Kashmir division of the union territory, they said.
Srinagar district recorded the highest number of new cases at 38, followed by 10 in Jammu district, the officials said.
Karnataka has reported 1,338 new cases of Covid-19 and 31 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 29,21,049 and death toll to 36,848, the Health Department said on Tuesday. The day also saw 1,947 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 28,61,499.
Telangana on Tuesday recorded 494 new Covid-19 cases taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 6,50,353. With three more persons succumbing to the virus, the death toll rose to 3,831, a state government bulletin said.
The number of active cases stood at 8,112. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation reported the highest number of 80 cases followed by Karimnagar (51) and Warangal Urban (45).
Only one state has till now reported "suspected" death due to oxygen shortage during the second wave of Covid-19 after the Centre sought data from them on such fatalities following the raising of the issue in Parliament, a top official said on Tuesday.
In a bid to ensure a sustainable revival of the Covid-19-ravaged tourism industry, Kerala has introduced a bio-bubble model ensuring a protective layer from coronavirus to the tourists in the state.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday said that though the Covid-19 situation in Himachal Pradesh is under control, the pandemic is not yet over.
He said it is a matter of concern that 300 Covid-19 cases were reported in the state on Monday.
Speaking in the state assembly, the chief minister claimed his government has created much more health infrastructure than the Congress did in over 50 years of its rule.
The number of active Covid-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh stood at 2,086 on Monday, while the positivity rate was recorded at 1.9 per cent last week, according to a health official.
Eradicating Covid-19 across the globe is theoretically more feasible than it has been for polio, but much less so than it was for smallpox, according to an analysis by public health experts.
Kerala reported more than half of the total Covid-19 cases recorded in the country in the past seven days, the central government said on Tuesday.
At a joint press briefing on the pandemic, an official said that 37 districts across nine states, including Kerala (11 districts) and Tamil Nadu (seven districts), were showing rising trend in daily new Covid-19 cases over the last two weeks.
As many as 44 districts across 11 states and union territories reported a weekly positivity rate of more than 10 per cent, the official said.
Kerala reported 51.51 per cent of the total Covid-19 cases recorded in India in past seven days, he said.
According to the central government, the reproduction number that denotes the spread of Covid-19 was more than 1 in five states -- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
Delhi reported 52 fresh coronavirus cases and one new fatality on Tuesday, with the positivity rate at 0.08 per cent, according to data shared by the Health Department.
Forty-five patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in the city to 14,11,280.
Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the government has given approval to Bharat Biotech's Ankleshwar-based manufacturing plant to produce Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin.
Bangladesh began vaccinating on Tuesday Rohingya refugees living in congested camps as the impoverished South Asian nation battles a record surge in coronavirus cases.
Health officials say 2,600 Covid-19 cases and 29 deaths have been recorded in the camps housing 850,000 Rohingya but many experts say this is likely a gross underestimate.
The initial inoculation phase will see around 48,000 refugees aged over 55 get Chinese-made Sinopharm shots in the coming three days, local health chief Mahbubur Rahman told AFP.
Odisha Tuesday logged 1,041 fresh cases of Covid-19, pushing the tally to 9,88,997, while the death toll mounted to 6,565 with 64 more fatalities, a health department official said.
The coastal state now has 10,988 active cases, and 9,71,391 patients have so far recovered from the disease, including 1,475 since Monday, he said.
Odisha’s case fatality rate stands at 0.66 per cent, which is “one of the lowest in the country”, the official said.
Aid workers have long warned of a potential humanitarian disaster if there is a significant outbreak in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the border district where over a million Rohingya who fled a brutal military crackdowns in neighbouring Myanmar have found sanctuary.
Coronavirus cases and hospitalisations in the United States are at a six-month high, fueled by the rapid spread of the Delta variant across swathes of the country grappling with low vaccination rates.
From flash protest march to Parliament to Youth Congress' protest outside the Twitter office in Delhi, Congress on Monday raked up the issue of alleged "temporary suspension" of Rahul Gandhi's Twitter account to accuse the government of trying to silence the Opposition voice against the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in the national capital.
Maharashtra Covid task force on Monday discussed the possibility of granting more relaxations in Covid-19 curbs while observing precautions, an official said, adding the government is identifying new areas and preparing guidelines.
To detect Covid-19 cases, the city civic body - Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) - would launch a programme involving doctors making door-to-door visits, Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka said on Monday.