Coronavirus News Live Updates: No second wave of COVID-19 infection in Mumbai, no plans of lockdown, says BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal
Coronavirus News Live Updates: Today is the 334th day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. India's total tally of COVID-19 cases surpassed 1.10 crore with 14,199 new infections being reported in a day,while active cases registered an increase for the fifth consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The total coronavirus cases have increased to 1,10,05,850, while the death toll increased to 1,56,385 with 83 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,99,410 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.22 percent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 percent. Active coronavirus infections in the country increased to 1,50,055 which comprises 1.36 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. According to the ICMR, 21,15,51,746 samples have been tested up to February 21 with 6,20,216 samples being tested on Sunday. Globally, more than 10.94 crore people have been infected by the coronavirus and 24.16 lakh have died so far. India, along with many countries, has granted emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines and has started the process of vaccinating healthcare workers and high-risk groups. India's regulator has granted restricted emergency use approval for two vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin. More than 89 lakh people have been given the COVID-19 vaccine in India so far.
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Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Vaccination starts without rush in Australia, parts of Asia
Australia started its COVID-19 inoculation program on Monday, days after its neighbor New Zealand, with both governments deciding their pandemic experiences did not require the fast tracking of vaccine rollouts that occurred in many parts of the world. Other countries in the Asia-Pacific region that have dealt relatively well with the pandemic either only recently started vaccinating or are about to, including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Singapore.
Catherine Bennett, an epidemiologist at Australia’s Deakin University, said countries that do not face a virus crisis benefit from taking their time and learning from countries that have taken emergency vaccination measures such as the United States. “We’ve now got data on pregnant women who are vaccinated. Natural accidents, like incorrect dosing, happen in a real world rollout,” Bennett said. “All of those things are really valuable insights.”
