- News
- India News
- Coronavirus pandemic live updates: Govt allows meal, newspaper services on all domestic flights
Coronavirus pandemic live updates: Govt allows meal, newspaper services on all domestic flights
India recorded the lowest daily Covid numbers in 287 days on Tuesday with 8,865 new cases. US meanwhile has issued a 'Level One' Covid-19 notice for Americans travelling to India, saying the risk of contracting the infection and developing severe symptoms may be lower if one is fully vaccinated. Stay with TOI for latest updates:Read Less
Key Events
TN to hold two mega vaccination drives every week
Stepping up the gas on the vaccination exercise, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to hold two mega vaccination drives every week, hitherto a weekly exercise, as members of the public were evincing hesitation to receive the jabs, State minister Ma Subramanian said on Tuesday.
Cumulative Covid vaccine doses given in India cross 113.61 crore: Health ministry
The big restriction that now remains is on scheduled international flights, which have been suspended since March 2020.
Since last summer, international flights are allowed only under air bubble agreements. Due to the limited capacity under this system, international airfares have skyrocketed.
It also relaxed the norms for cabin crew in terms of wearing PPE gowns.
The order added that airlines can now also provide reading material to passengers.
“The airlines offering flights on domestic routes may provide meal service on board, without restrictions on duration of flights,” the aviation ministry said in an order issued on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday announced it is now permitting airlines to offer meals on all domestic flights. Earlier, Covid-19 restrictions barred airlines from offering any food service on flights up to 2 hours flight time.
Delhi reports 44 new cases and 0 deaths over 24 hours
Andhra Pradesh reports 191 new Covid cases
Karnataka logs 255 new cases, 7 more deaths
Russia resumes flights with more countries amid Covid surge
The announcement comes as Russia's daily coronavirus cases and deaths remain at record highs and less than 40% of the country's population of 146 million has been fully vaccinated. The task force on Tuesday reported 36,818 new confirmed cases and 1,240 deaths, the latter only one fewer than the record daily death toll.
Kerala reports 5,516 new cases, 210 deaths
Vaccine hesitancy seen in Muslim-dominated areas, govt will rope in actor Salman Khan to promote inoculation: Maharashtra Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
Maharashtra sees 886 new Covid cases and 34 deaths over 24 hours
China and Russia — middle-income countries that are home to a combined 1.5 billion people — are excluded from the deal.
The licensing deal excludes some large countries that have suffered devastating coronavirus outbreaks.
Brazil, which has one of the world’s worst pandemic death tolls, as well as Cuba, Iraq, Libya and Jamaica, will have to buy pills directly from Pfizer, most likely at higher prices compared with what the generics manufacturers will charge.
Pfizer has said it will sell the drug using a tiered pricing approach based on the income level of each country.
In the United States, it expects to price its treatment close to where Merck has priced its drug at around $700 a course.
Pfizer’s oral treatment is meant to be taken at home as a five-day regimen of 30 pills
Ten of the pills are a low dose of an HIV drug known as ritonavir, meant to slow the breakdown of Pfizer’s pill so that it remains active in the body longer.
We are extremely pleased to have another weapon in our armoury to protect people from the ravages of Covid-19
Charles Gore, Executive Director of the Medicines Patent Pool
