Coronavirus News Highlights: Stringent lockdown where COVID spread is critical, says Kerala govt

Festival season returns to Nepal amid declining COVID cases

Tens of thousands of devotees packed the old palace courtyard in the heart of Nepal's capital on Sunday to celebrate the feast of Indra Jatra, marking the return of the festival season in the Himalayan nation after it was scaled down because of the pandemic. The weeklong Indra Jatra precedes months of other festivals in the predominantly Hindu nation.

Kerala reports 19,653 fresh COVID cases, 152 deaths

Kerala on Sunday reported 19,653 fresh COVID19 cases and 152 deaths, which took the caseload to 45,08,493 and fatalities to 23,591 till date.  The number of people who recovered from the infection since Saturday was 26,711 which brought the total recoveries to 43,10,674 and the number of active cases to 1,73,631, an official press release said.

Stringent lockdown where COVID spread is critical, says Kerala govt

Special intensified, stringent lockdown restrictions will be enforced in areas of Kerala, where the spread of COVID19 is at criticallevels, the State government said on Sunday. The stringent lockdown restrictions would be in force in areas where the weekly infection population ratio (WIPR) is above 10 and the affected places would be notified by the district disaster management authority (DDMA) on a weekly basis, said an order from Chief Secretary V P Joy.

TN COVID-19 aggregate touches 26.45 lakh

Tamil Nadu's cumulative coronavirus cases rose to 26.45 lakh with 1,697 positives being reported on Sunday, while 27 people died of the deadly disease taking the toll to 35,337. The number of recoveries were less than new cases with 1,594 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 25,93,074 leaving 16,969 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

India reports 30,773 new COVID cases as it seeks to welcome back tourists

India on Sunday reported 30,773 new coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 33.4 million, as it seeks to reopen the country to overseas tourists. The death toll rose by 309 to 444,838, the health ministry said. India, which has so far administered 804.3 million vaccine doses, is looking to protect the population and welcome back tourists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.

New Zealand sees small increase in daily COVID-19 cases over weekend

 

New Zealand reported 24 new locally acquired coronavirus cases on Sunday, up from 20 on Saturday, showing an upturn after several days of lower numbers, as the country's largest city Auckland awaits to hear if its lockdown restrictions will ease. All of the new cases have been reported in greater Auckland, a city of about 1.7 million people which has been in a full level 4 lockdown since mid-August. The government of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is to announce on Monday whether the alert levels for Auckland and the rest of the country will be changed. Until the weekend, New Zealand was on a path to eliminate the latest outbreak, which began in mid-August and has infected 1,050 people with the highly transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus.

No fresh COVID-19 case reported in Ladakh

No fresh case of COVID-19 was reported in Ladakh on Saturday, with the number of active cases staying at 109, officials said on Sunday. The overall tally of COVID cases in the Union Territory stands at 20,702. Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, Ladakh has registered 207 COVID-related deaths -- 149 in Leh and 58 in Kargil. The officials said a total of 4,640 people, including travellers coming by air and road, were subjected to COVID-19 screening on Saturday and all of them were found negative.

Rahul Gandhi takes dig at govt over record COVID-19 vaccinations

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a swipe at the government over the record COVID-19 vaccinations in a single day, and said the "event" is over now. He also shared a graph of the vaccination trend in the last 10 days as per data from the Cowin website to show the decline in inoculations after the record. India vaccinated 2.5 crore people in a single day on Friday to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday. Using the hashtag vaccination, Gandhi said in a tweet, "Event over". Gandhi on Saturday had hoped more such record vaccinations happened in the country.

Australia reports 1,607 COVID-19 cases as states learn to live with virus


Australia reported 1,607 new coronavirus cases on Sunday as states and territories gradually shift from trying to eliminate outbreaks to living with the virus. Victoria, home to about a quarter of Australia's 25 million people, recorded 507 cases as its premier said a week-long lockdown will end once 70% of those 16 and older are fully vaccinated, whether or not there are new cases. Premier Daniel Andrews said the state might reach that vaccination threshold around October 26. About 43% Victorians have been fully vaccinated and just over 46% of people nationwide. "We will do so cautiously, but make no mistake, we are opening this place up. There is no alternative," Andrews said. We "cannot perennially or permanently suppress this virus. Lockdowns have been about buying time to get to 70% and 80% vaccination."

Rahul Gandhi takes dig at govt over record COVID-19 vaccinations

 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a swipe at the government over the record COVID-19 vaccinations in a single day and said the "event" is over now. He also shared a graph of the vaccination trend in the last 10 days as per data from the Cowin website to show the decline in inoculations after the record. India vaccinated 2.5 crore people in a single day on Friday to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday. Using the hashtag vaccination, Gandhi said in a tweet, "Event over". Gandhi on Saturday had hoped more such record vaccinations happened in the country. "Looking forward to many more days of 2.1 crore vaccinations. This pace is what our country needs," he had said on Twitter.

Active cases dip below 1% of Arunachal's COVID-19 tally

 

The number of active cases dipped below 1 percent of Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally on Sunday, even as single-day recoveries outnumbered fresh infections. As many 76 more people recover from the disease, while 32 fresh infections were registered in the northeastern state. The coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 271 as no fresh fatality was reported, a health official said. The state now has 461 active cases, which is 0.85 percent of the caseload of 54,060. As many as 53,328 people have been cured of the disease thus far, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said, adding that the recovery rate slightly improved to 98.64 percent from 98.56 percent on the previous day.