India Sees 29,616 New Cases, 5.6% Lower Than Friday; US, UK See Rise in Deaths as Delta Variant Spreads Rapidly

Those fully jabbed against Covid-19 and wishing to travel abroad will now have a vaccination certificate with their full date of birth on the CoWIN app. As of now, the certificate refers only to age based on the year of birth. The new feature may go live by next week. A senior central government official with the CoWIN management portal said the introduction of the new feature stems from ongoing technical discussions between India and the UK on CoWIN certification. A senior official with the portal told TOI, “We believe that the UK wants the date of birth format in the CoWIN certificate as per WHO standards in the dd-mm-yy format for international travellers. Hence, the same feature will be introduced in the CoWIN certificates for those going abroad.”

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said all places of worship will reopen in the state from October 7, which is the first day of Navratri. After the first coronavirus wave, places of religious worship were reopened in Maharashtra in November last year, but they have shut down again for people after the second wave started in the state in March 2021.

Here are the live updates on Covid-19 

The US and the UK have been seeing a rise in the number of people dying of coronavirus disease (Covid-19). Covid-19 deaths in the US have climbed to an average of more than 1,900 a day for the first time since early March, while the United Kingdom has seen 160,000 fatalities so far.

• 29,616 fresh Covid-19 cases in India, 5.6% lower than yesterday

• People fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and wishing to travel abroad will now have a vaccination certificate with their full date of birth on the CoWIN app. As of now, the certificate refers only to age based on the year of birth. The new feature may go live by next week.
• Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said all places of worship will reopen in the state from October 7, which is the first day of Navratri. After the first coronavirus wave, places of religious worship were reopened in Maharashtra in November last year, but they were shut down again for people after the second wave started in the state in March 2021.

• After two days of reporting 30,000-plus fresh cases of Covid-19, the country-wide tally fell below that mark on Friday as infection numbers in Kerala declined to under 18,000 on Friday. India recorded 29,595 fresh cases of the virus, down from 31,407 on Thursday and 32,028 on the day before.

• Italy has become the latest EU member to recognise WHO-approved Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, after several others like Germany, Switzerland, France and Spain. Indian vaccine cardholders are now eligible for GreenPass, the Indian embassy in Rome tweeted on Friday.

• Tamil Nadu daily count remained higher than 1,700 for the second straight day, as 1,733 fresh cases were recorded. The state’s daily test positivity rate, however, remained high at 16.27%

• The Centre lauded the efforts of Indian Immunologicals Limited (IIL) on Friday for its ability to roll out Covid-19 vaccine drug substances in record time. The biopharmaceutical company had responded to the central government’s request to partner with Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in April 2021 to produce a Covaxin drug substance.
• At least 30 persons have tested positive for coronavirus in the Mhow cantonment area in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district in the last 24 hours, a health official said on Friday.