The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 11.17 million as of 8 a.m. today, with 16,838 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, according to data from the Health ministry.

The number of active cases rose by 2,906 in the past 24 hours, and the total number of active cases now stands at 176,319. So far, the virus has claimed 157,548 lives, while 10.83 million people have recovered.

You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.

Here are the latest updates:

Punjab

Punjab CM gets first jab of anti-coronavirus vaccine

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh was administered the anti-coronavirus vaccine here on Friday.

“Punjab CM got his first jab of #CovidVaccine at Civil hospital Mohali,” his media advisor Raveen Thukral tweeted.

“It was painless and I am feeling fine,” he quoted the CM as saying.

The vaccine was administered to the chief minister by auxiliary nurse midwife Manpreet. – PTI

Rajasthan

Rajasthan CM Gehlot, health minister receive first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccine

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the state’s Health Minister Raghu Sharma were administered the first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccine at SMS hospital in Jaipur on Friday.

Mr. Gehlot tweeted a short video of him getting the first dose and said the vaccine is safe.

“Administering 2 to 2.5 lakh vaccine doses per day in Rajasthan is a big thing. About 25 % of the country’s vaccination is taking place only in Rajasthan. This is because the corona management has been excellent in the state,” he claimed.

However, 16,09,343 doses have been administered in Rajasthan so far, according to the Union Health Ministry. – PTI

Pakistan

Pak govt not planning to buy COVID-19 vaccines; to rely on herd immunity & donated jabs: official

Pakistan is not planning to buy vaccines anytime soon as it aims to tackle the COVID-19 challenge through herd immunity and donated vaccines from friendly countries like China, authorities have said.

So far, four vaccines — Sinophram (China), Oxford-AstraZeneca (UK), Sputnik-V (Russia) and Cansino Bio (China) have been registered in the country.

National Health Service (NHS) Secretary Amir Ashraf Khawaja while briefing the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday said that the Pakistan government has no plan to buy vaccines anytime soon and aims to tackle the COVID-19 health challenge through herd immunity and donated vaccines, Dawn newspaper reported.

Herd immunity occurs when a large number of people, usually 70 to 90 %, become immune to a contagious disease after being infected to it. – PTI

India vaccine doses

Over 1.8 crore vaccine doses administered in India

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India has crossed 1.8 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

These include 68,53,083 healthcare workers (HCWs) who were administered the 1st dose, 31,41,371 HCWs who were given the 2nd dose, 60,90,931 frontline workers (FLWs) who were given the 1st dose and 67,297 FLWs (2nd dose), 2,35,901 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities (1st dose) and 16,16,920 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years.

Nearly 14 lakh (13,88,170) vaccine doses were given on Thursday, Day-48 of the vaccination drive (March 4) The ministry said 10,56,808 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 16,081 sessions for 1st dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 3,31,362 HCWs and FLWs received 2nd dose of vaccine. – PTI

A new treatment

New easy-to-deliver treatment stops replication of COVID-19, flu viruses: Study

Researchers have developed a new treatment that appears to stop the reproduction of the viruses which cause COVID-19 and flu, and can be delivered to the lungs via a nebulizer, making it easy for patients to self-administer at home.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd will bear the cost of vaccinating its employees and their immediate family, totaling an estimated 12.2 lakh, as the oil-to-telecom conglomerate looks to safeguard them against the COVID-19 virus. – PTI

Tamil Nadu

Three generations of women vaccinated in Chennai

Three women, spanning three generations, were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Thursday at Kauvery Hospital in Chennai.

C.R. Kamalammal, 102, her daughter Rama Sridharan, 74, and granddaughter Sumana Premkumar received their vaccination at the hospital.

Ms. Kamalammal said, “The vaccine is safe and I urge everyone to take it immediately as I did.”

Hospital co-founder and executive director Aravindan Selvaraj said, “It is really interesting to see so many senior citizens coming forward to take their dose of vaccines, and this particular family with the senior-most person is truly an example for other elderly people. The vaccines are safe and administered as per the government protocols. We insist more people come forward and take the vaccine in order to fight the pandemic.”

Telangana

Half of Hyderabad, Secunderabad’s population have antibodies, says study

About 54% of the population in Hyderabad and Secunderabad within the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits have been found to be having antibodies against coronavirus in a latest sero-surveillance survey conducted by city-based scientific institutions.

The study conducted jointly by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) and Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) on a sample size of about 9,000 participants, all of them older than 10 years, has indicated that half the population has either been infected or exposed to coronavirus.

“It is very exciting as we could be near the end of this pandemic. We have reached a critical stage of infection among the population. This is the right time to go for vaccination when the infection transmission is weak and there are no cases of re-infection. This could take the antibodies prevalence among the population to 75-80% when the herd immunity may kick in,” said CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra at a press conference on Thursday.