Covid roundup: India reports 22 Delta Plus cases, Karnataka eases lockdown restrictions in 4 more districts and more

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday reported 42,640 daily new Covid cases, the lowest in over three months, pushing the country's total tally to 29,977,861, according to the data updated by the Union health ministry. This is the 15th day in a row when the daily new cases remained below 1 lakh. On Monday, the country reported 53,256 new cases, the lowest in 88 days.
Here are the latest developments:
Delta Plus now a variant of concern in India; 22 cases detected
Delta Plus (AY.1) which is a mutation of the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) of the SARS-Cov-2 virus was announced as a 'variant of concern' (VoC) in India on Tuesday. Delta Plus is said to be capable of resisting even the monoclonal antibodies cocktail currently being prescribed as a cure. The health minister on Tuesday said that 22 cases of the Delta plus variant have been detected in India, with 16 of them being reported from Maharashtra and the remaining from Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. Besides, India, Delta Plus has been found in the US, UK, Portugal, Switzerland, Japan, Poland, Nepal, China and Russia. The Delta variant has been detected in 80 countries, he said.

Detection of multiple Covid variants puts Jharkhand on high alarm
Alarmed by the detection of several variants of coronavirus in Jharkhand. "As many as 328 of the 364 samples have tested positive for variants like Delta, Alfa, and Kappa in the state in course of whole genomic sequencing", State Health Secretary, Arun Kumar Singh said. Of the 328 positive cases, 194 cases are of Delta variant B.1.617.2 which is a "variant of concern", Singh said. The state government has directed the authorities to despatch samples within 48 hours of a patient's death for genetic study.

Karnataka eases lockdown restrictions in 4 more districts
The Karnataka government on Tuesday further relaxed the Covid-19 related restrictions in four more districts allowing all shops other than those air-conditioned, to function from 6 am to 1 pm. However, air-conditioned shopping complexes and malls will continue to remain shut. In an order, revenue department Principal Secretary N Manjunatha Prasad said the lockdown norms have been relaxed in Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Davanagere, and Chamarajanagara districts with immediate effect and until 5 am of July 5. The government had imposed restrictions from April 27 and relaxed the curbs in a phased manner.
Night curfew in Chandigarh
As per the latest guidelines, all shops will remain open from 10:00 am to 08:00 pm. All restaurants and bars can remain open with 50 per cent capacity from 10:00 am to 10:30 pm. Night curfew has been imposed in the city from 11:00 pm to 05:00 am, said the Chandigarh administration.
Covid-19: Fears of deadly third wave unfounded, say virologists
Top virologists and domain experts have played down fears of an impending third wave of Covid-19 infections, insisting there is no scientific basis to suggest a fresh surge would hit anytime soon. Theories doing the rounds claim a possible third wave could hit by October, while some stakeholders have warned of a resurgence in infections much earlier. Dr Randeep Guleria, chief of All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told reporters last week that a third wave is inevitable in India and he expected it to hit the country in six to eight weeks.

Rural areas administered more doses than urban on June 21
As India achieved a "historic milestone" of administering 88.09 lakh coronavirus vaccine doses in a single day on June 21, nearly 64 per cent of the jabs were given in rural areas, the government said on Tuesday. Madhya Pradesh administered the maximum number of doses on June 21, followed by Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Assam, an official said. The government said a historic milestone was achieved on June 21, 2021 -- 88.09 lakh doses administered in a single day. Of the doses, 36.32 per cent were administered in urban areas and 63.68 per cent in rural areas, the official said.

AstraZeneca Covid vaccine linked to rare neurological disorder in India, UK
11 people who received the AstraZeneca-Oxford Covid-19 vaccine have developed a rare neurological disorder called Guillain-Barre syndrome, clinicians in India and England have reported in two separate studies. While seven cases were reported from a medical centre in Kerala, where about 1.2 million people were administered the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, known as Covishield in India, four were reported from Nottingham, UK, in an area in which approximately 700,000 (7 lakh) people received the jab. All 11 had received the Covid preventive 10-22 days earlier.

Pfizer in 'final stages' of getting approval for Covid-19 vaccine in India: CEO
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Tuesday said it is in the "final stages" of getting approval for its Covid-19 vaccine in India. Speaking at a virtual event, Pfizer Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Albert Bourla said he hopes the company will finalize an agreement with the Indian government soon. The vaccine was developed by Pfizer in partnership with the German firm BioNtech. It has a very high efficacy of over 90 per cent in preventing the infection.
All eligible people in 2 Tripura panchayats fully vaccinated: CM
Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb has said all people eligible for the Covid-19 vaccine in 2 gram panchayats of the northeastern state are now fully vaccinated. All the eligible beneficiaries of Mangalkhali Gram Panchayat in North Tripura district and Purna Chandigarh Gram Panchayat in Sepahijala district were fully vaccinated on Monday, the chief minister said. Officials said, as many as 1,40,485 people were vaccinated in the two gram panchayats on Monday.
Antibody cocktail therapy begins at AIIMS, Rishikesh
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences here has begun antibody cocktail therapy to treat Covid-19 patients. "We have begun antibody cocktail therapy here and six patients from different states have already availed it so far," AIIMS, Rishikesh Director Ravi Kant said. Antibody cocktail is a combination of two drugs and its vial costs nearly Rs 60000 in the market.
Japan, UNDP provide oxygen plants, installed in 3 northeast states
Assisting India in its battle against Covid-19, eight oxygen generation plants were installed in the Northeast states of Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura with the help of the Japanese government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Japanese embassy in India on Tuesday said the plants have the capacity to serve approximately 1,300 beds. The plants were launched today by the Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Kongkal Sangma. Japan's envoy to India Satoshi Suzuki witnessed the handover of oxygen generating plants to the respective states.
SC refuses to interfere with CBSE, CISCE assessment scheme for evaluating Class 12 students
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the assessment scheme propounded by both CBSE and CISCE for evaluation of Class 12 students, whose board examinations have been cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The top court rejected the objections raised by a parents' body as well as students and said that it is not possible to have a second guess approach with regard to various aspects of the assessment scheme. A special bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said, “We accept the scheme as propounded by both the boards-(CBSE and CISCE)”.
(With inputs from agencies)