COVID-19 in India: Cases dip, but deaths still rising

India adds 259170 new cases and 1761 deaths to ramp up vaccination Centre offers Rs 4500crore booster to vaccine manufacturers and plans to waive customs duty import as Oppn criticises itrsquos lsquohollowrsquo policy for the next phaseIndiarsquos total tally of COVID19 cases climbed to 15321089 with 259170 new Coronavirus infections and the death toll increased to 180530 with a record 1761 new fatalities the data updated at 8 am showed Registering a steady increase for the 41st day in a row the active cases rose to 2031977Rs 4500 cr to vaccine makersLooking to ramp up supplies ahead of the opening of COVID19 vaccination to all citizens over 18 years the Centre has approved an advance payment of about Rs 4500 crore to manufacturers like Serum Institute of India SII and Bharat Biotech sources told PTI SII will get Rs 3000 crore and Bharat Biotech about Rs 1500 croreSII will supply 200 million doses and Bharat Biotech 90 million doses to the Centre at the preagreed rate of Rs 150 per dose by July Sources said the finance ministry has relaxed rules to allow advance payment without bank guarantee to help the vaccine makers ramp up productionRelief on import likelyThe government is also likely to waive 10 per cent customs duty levied on imported vaccines in a bid to keep the cost of overseas vaccines low sources said ldquoA customs duty wavier is being consideredrdquo a source aware of the matter said Another source said a decision is likely to be made ldquovery soonrdquoWhile Russiarsquos Sputnik V vaccines are due to arrive this month or latest by next month manufacturers like Moderna and Johnson and Johnson have been urged to seek emergency use approval in IndiaThe Centre presently levies 10 per cent customs or import duty plus a 165 per cent IGST and social welfare surcharge on vaccines coming from overseaslsquo700mn doses a yearrsquoMeanwhile Bharat Biotech has ramped up the manufacturing capacity of its vaccine Covaxin to 700 million doses per annum it said on TuesdayManufacturing scale up has been carried out in a stepwise manner across multiple facilities at Hyderabad and Bangalore the company saidlsquoSituation worse in villagesrsquoWith Uttar Pradesh battling a surge in COVID19 cases Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday claimed that health services in the state have ldquocollapsedrdquo and the situation is worse in villages as compared to citiesThe situation is bad not only in cities it is worse in villages where there is no one to hear the voice of the poor villagers he claimed Yadav added ldquoThe CM who is allergic to the work carried out during the SPrsquos regime is playing with the lives of the peoplerdquoThe chief minister did not care about improving the health services The SP had put forth this demand But now as the situation is worsening the government has decided to convert cancer hospital Haj House Awadh Shilpgram built during the SPrsquos regime into COVID centres he saidCong leaders Delhi CMs wife test veCongress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he has tested positive for COVID19 Senior party leader Anand Sharma has been admitted to Medanta Hospital sources close to him told PTI Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he is in quarantine after his wife Sunita Kejriwal tested positive Union minister Jitendra Singh and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao have also contracted the virusJampJ files for trialJohnson amp Johnson on Tuesday said it has sought an approval from the Indiarsquos drug regulator to conduct a bridging clinical trial of its singledose vaccine in the country The US Food and Drug Administration had in February approved its vaccine for emergency useTomatoes for shotsFake news misinformation and rumours have created some hesitancy around the COVID19 vaccines in Chhattisgarhrsquos Bastar village But the authorities have come up with an interesting way to encourage residents to get vaccinated mdash giving them tomatoes for each administered dose15321089Total no of coronavirus cases in India so far180530Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far13108582Total no of patients recovered and discharged in India so far127129113Total no of people vaccinated so farThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever