COVID-19 UPDATES AS ON 24.3.2021

 

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India’s total Vaccination Coverage has surpassed 5 cr Doses

More than 23 lakh vaccine doses given in the last 24 hours

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujaratreport a spike in Daily New Cases

Posted On: 24 MAR 2021 11:04AM by PIB Delhi

India has crossed a significant milestone in the fight against the global pandemic. The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 5 crore.

5,08,41,286 vaccine doses have been administered through 8,23,046 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today.

These include 79,17,521 HCWs (1st dose), 50,20,695 HCWs (2nd dose), 83,62,065 FLWs (1^st dose) and 30,88,639 FLWs (2^nd Dose), 47,01,894 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1^st Dose) and 2,17,50,472 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.

 

HCWs		FLWs		45 to < 60 years with Co-morbidities	Over 60 years	Total
1st Dose	2nd Dose	1st Dose	2nd Dose	1st Dose	1st Dose
79,17,521	50,20,695	83,62,065	30,88,639	47,01,894	2,17,50,472	5,08,41,286

 

As on Day-67 of the vaccination drive (23^rd March, 2021), 23,46,692 vaccine doses were given.

Of the total, 21,00,799 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1^st dose and 2,45,893 HCWs and FLWs received 2^nd dose of vaccine.

 

Date: 23rd March, 2021
HCWs		FLWs		45 to < 60 years with Co-morbidities	Over 60 years	Total Achievement
1stDose	2ndDose	1stDose	2nd Dose	1stDose	1stDose	1stDose	2ndDose
57,942	60,731	1,19,938	1,85,162	4,03,584	15,19,335	21,00,799	2,45,893

 

Eight States account for 60% of the cumulative vaccine doses given so far. 

Five States of Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujaratare reporting a surge in the COVID daily new cases. These states account for 77.44% of the new cases.

47,262 new cases were registered in the last 24 hours.

Six states cumulatively account for 81.65% of the new cases reported in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 28,699. It is followed by Punjab with 2,254 while Karnataka reported 2,010 new cases. 

Eight States have reported a higher weekly positivity rate than the national average (4.11%). Maharashtraleads with a weekly positivity rate of 20.53%. 

India’s total Active Caseload has reached 3,68,457 today, comprising 3.14% of the total Positive Cases. A net incline of 23,080 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,12,05,160 today. The national Recovery Rate is 95.49%.

23,907 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.

275 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Six States account for 83.27% of the new deaths. Maharashtrasaw the maximum casualties (132). Punjabfollows with 53 daily deaths and Chhattisgarh reported 20 deaths in the last 24 hours. 

Twelve States/UTs have not reported any COVID19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Odisha, Lakshadweep, Ladakh (UT), Manipur, D&N & D&N, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, Tripura, A&N Islands, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

 

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MV/SJ
HFW/COVID States data/24^thMarch2021/1

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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Genome Sequencing by INSACOG shows variants of concern and a Novel variant in India

Posted On: 24 MAR 2021 12:49PM by PIB Delhi

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) is a grouping of 10 National Laboratories that was established by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt of India on 25/12/2020. INSACOG is since then carrying out genomic sequencing and analysis of circulating COVID-19 viruses, and correlating epidemiological trends with genomic variants. Genomic variants of various viruses are a natural phenomenon and are found in almost all countries.

Since INSACOG initiated its work, 771 variants of concerns (VOCs) have been detected in a total of 10787 positive samples shared by States/UTs. These include 736 samples positive for viruses of the UK (B.1.1.7) lineage. 34 samples were found positive for viruses of the South African (B.1.351) lineage.  1 sample was found positive for viruses of the Brazilian (P.1) lineage. The samples with these VOCs have been identified in 18 States of the country. 

Genome sequencing and analysis have been carried out on samples from arriving international travelers, contacts of those positive for VOC and community samples from most of the States at INSACOG partner laboratories which are 10 in number.

The analysis of samples from Maharashtra has revealed that compared to December 2020, there has been an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations.  Such mutations confer immune escape and increased infectivity. These mutations have been found in about 15-20% of samples and do not match any previously catalogued VOCs. These have been categorized as VOCs but require the same epidemiological and public health response of “increased testing, comprehensive tracking of close contacts, prompt isolation of positive cases & contacts as well as treatment as per National Treatment Protocol” by the States/UTs.

From Kerala 2032 samples (from all 14 districts) have been sequenced. The N440K variant that is associated with immune escape has been found in 123 samples from 11 districts. This   variant was earlier found in 33% of samples from Andhra Pradesh, and in 53 of 104 samples from Telangana. This variant has also been reported from 16 other countries including UK, Denmark, Singapore, Japanand Australia. As of now these can be at best said to be variant under investigation.

Though VOCs and a new double mutant variant have been found in India, these have not been detected in numbers sufficient to either establish or direct relationship or explain the rapid increase in cases in some States. Genomic sequencing and epidemiological studies are continuing to further analyze the situation.

 

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