As many 44,111 new COVID-19 cases and 738 deaths were reported in India in the last 24 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

With 57,477 recoveries in the last 24 hours, daily recoveries continued to outnumber the daily new cases for the 51st consecutive day.

The oppressive heatwave that swept through the north Indian plains and hills has abated and no such conditions are likely during the next five days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.

Mercury is likely to drop by 3-4 degrees Celsius over the next five days, it added.

Nearly 95 per cent of people with cancer developed a good immune response to the Covid-19 mRNA vaccines three to four weeks after receiving their second dose, finds a new study co-authored by Indian-origin researchers.

The study, published in the journal Cancer Cell, indicated that among the 131 patients studied, 94 per cent developed antibodies to the coronavirus.

The anti-COVID-19 vaccines by US pharma majors Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) that are being used in South Africa are more effective against the Delta variant of the coronavirus than the Beta strain, experts have said.

The Beta variant, which was first detected in South Africa, caused a second wave at the beginning of this year whereas the Delta variant, first detected in India, is driving the current third wave in South Africa, resulting in increased lockdown restrictions as the number of infections and deaths have already surpassed those of the previous two waves.

After Tirath Singh Rawat tendered his resignation as Uttarakhand Chief Minister, state BJP president Madan Kaushik on Saturday that the new chief minister is likely to be a sitting MLA.

Speaking to ANI, Kaushik said that the new BJP legislature party leader will be elected at the legislature party meeting today.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has once again summoned former Maharashtra Hone Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Anil Deshmukh for questioning on July 5 in connection with the alleged bribery charges. This is the third summon to Deshmukh in a week.

An ED source related to probe said that the financial probe agency has summoned Deshmukh to record his statement on July 5.

After 43,99,298 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, India's cumulative vaccination coverage increased to 34.46 crores, according to the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

A total of 34,46,11,291 vaccine doses have been administered through 45,60,088 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today.

Telangana Congress leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Thursday urged the Central government to hold simultaneous delimitation of constituencies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh alongside Jammu and Kashmir.

Speaking to ANI, Reddy said, The process of delimitation will be subject to the provisions of Article 170 of Indian Constitution after August 5, 2019 and prior to that date, the delimitation of constituencies was subject to the state constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and to the Jammu and Kashmir State Representation of People's Act of 1957.

New research found that certain factors, such as a history of severe pain episodes and coexisting organ conditions, increase the risk of severe COVID-19 illness, including hospitalization, in individuals living with sickle cell disease (SCD).

The study published in the journal Blood Advances underscores the need for COVID-19 risk reduction strategies and vaccination for this medically vulnerable population.

The Centre on Friday deputed multi-disciplinary teams to Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Manipur in view of the high number of COVID-19 cases being reported by these states.

Teams will be supporting the states in their efforts to carry out a targeted Covid response and management, and effectively tackling the pandemic, a Union Health Ministry statement said.

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