Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Devegowda and his wife Chennamma tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. “My wife Chennamma and I have tested positive for COVID-19.
We are self-isolating along with other family members. I request all those who came in contact with us over the last few days to get themselves tested. I request party workers and well-wishers not to panic,” Devegowda said in a tweet.
The Union Health Ministry Wednesday said that eight states –Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab & Madhya Pradesh accounted for 84.73% of the new Covid-19 cases.
India reported 53,480 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The total tally of infections to 1,21,49,335, according to data from the Health Ministry. 354 deaths were reported on Tuesday, the highest since December 16, out of which 140 were reported from Maharashtra.
The overall death toll stood at 1,62,468. The death count in Karnataka (21) is the highest since December 9. Other states — Punjab (64), Chhattisgarh (35) and Tamil Nadu (16), Madhya Pradesh (10), Uttar Pradesh (10) — also reported more than the usual number of deaths.
Maharashtra reported 27,918 cases, a significant drop from the peak of 40,000 on Sunday, possibly because of lower testing. There are now more than 5.52 lakh active cases in the country while over 1,14,34,301 people have recovered.
One vaccine for Covid-19 is good. How about mixing two?
In January, Britain made a change to its vaccine guidelines that shocked many health experts: If the second dose of one vaccine wasn’t available, patients could be given a different one.
The new rule was based on sheer guesswork; there was no scientific data at the time demonstrating that mixing two coronavirus vaccines were safe and effective. But that may change soon.
With several parts of the country reporting the second wave of Covid-19 cases. The Centre Tuesday warned that the situation is going from “bad to worse” and urged states to achieve 100 percent vaccination coverage of those above the age of 45 years in surge districts within the next two weeks.
The Government will roll out third phase of its vaccination drive from April 1 to cover all those above the age of 45. On Saturday, during a meeting with 46 districts that reported 70 percent of the total cases over the last month. The Centre conveyed that 90 per cent of Covid-linked deaths in the country continue to be in the category of those aged above 45.