Coronavirus India Updates: A Million Healthcare Workers Vaccinated; Active Cases Decline

Active coronavirus cases in India continued to decline at a time when over a million healthcare workers in India have been vaccinated as part of the world’s largest inoculation drive.

India reported 14,545 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data as of 8 a.m. on Jan. 22. That’s lower than the 18,002 patients who recovered from the virus in the same time period, taking active cases below 1.9 lakh. India had over 10 lakh live infections in mid-September.

They account for a mere 1.78% of the total coronavirus cases confirmed in India. Recoveries hold the lion’s share with 96.78% while fatality rate stands at 1.44%

India is fast approaching the one-year mark of reporting its first corornavirus cases on Jan. 30, 2020. On Jan. 27, 2020, a 20 year old female presented to the Emergency Department in General Hospital, Thrissur, Kerala, with a one-day history of dry cough and sore throat. There was no history of fever, rhinitis or shortness of breath. She disclosed that she had returned to Kerala from Wuhan city, China, on Jan. 23, 2020 owing to the Covid-19 outbreak there.

Since then India has reported over 1.06 crore cases of infection and over 1.02 crore recoveries.

Key Figures

• Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 1,06,25,428
• Active cases: 1,88,688
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 1,02,83,708
• Deaths: 1,53,032
• Number of fresh cases in the last 24 hours: 14,545
• One-day recoveries: 18,002
• One-day deaths: 163

Global Update

U.S. President Joe Biden presented a national strategy to combat the coronavirus, saying the pandemic is likely to claim another 100,000 lives over roughly the next month. Florida issued an order seeking to limit “vaccine tourism” to the state. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s infectious-disease chief, said it’s “somewhat of a liberating feeling” to work for Biden after Donald Trump tried to sideline him.

Globally, cases exceed 97.1 million; deaths surpass 2 million.

Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy is as high as 39% in the Delhi-NCR with about one-fifth of the respondents saying that they will not take the jab, according to a telephonic survey conducted by the NCAER.

The findings of the fourth round of the Delhi-NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey conducted by the economic think-tank NCAER showed that about 20% respondents were certain about not taking the vaccine. Of this, 22.4% were from rural areas and 17.5% from urban locations.

The survey further showed that an additional 4% of respondents said they would not take the jab as they are already infected, while about 15% said they were unsure about taking the vaccine.

On the question of willingness of people to pay for vaccine, about 41% respondents felt that the vaccine should be provided free either by the government or their employer. An additional 14% said they will not pay more than Rs 500.

Source: PTI

The number of healthcare workers who have received Covid-19 vaccine jabs in the country till the evening of the sixth day of the nationwide immunisation drive crossed one million as per provisional reports, Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

It also said on Thursday, 2,33,530 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 6 p.m. through 4,043 vaccination sessions held across 27 states and Union Territories.

The countrywide Covid-19 vaccination programme was conducted successfully on the sixth day as well, said Dr. Manohar Agnani, the additional secretary in the health ministry.

The ministry said 187 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) have been reported till 6 p.m. on the sixth day of the vaccination drive.

"A person who was vaccinated on January 16 and developed intracranial hemorrhage on Jan. 20 has been admitted to Geetanjali Medical College and Hospital, Udaipur in Rajasthan and it is not related to vaccination. Further, no death has been reported today," Agnani said.

Source: PTI