Coronavirus pandemic continues wreaking havoc worldwide. According to worldometer.com, 183,512,215 cases have been reported so far. Of these, 167,995,947 people have recovered, while 3,973,393 people have died.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has implemented a new travel rule for 13 countries including India. This step has been taken to prevent the spread of highly-infectious delta variants. UAE has banned its citizens from traveling to several countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These guidelines have been issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MoFAIC) and National Disaster Management (NCEMA).
In a notice issued to Airmen (NOTAM), UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority, said flights from 14 countries, includes Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Uganda, Zambia, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and South Africa, will remain suspended until 23:59 hours of July 21, 2021. However, cargo flights, as well as business and charter flights, will exempt from the restrictions.
India has been witnessing a gradual decrease in daily coronavirus cases. According to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry, India reported 46,617 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative count of the cases to 3,04,58,251. With 853 deaths in the last 24 hours, the death toll has increased to 4,00,312.
The country also witnessed 59,384 recoveries in the last 24 hours taking the cumulative recoveries to 2,95,48,302. With this, the country's recovery rate has increased to 97.01%. On the other hand, India's mortality rate stands at 1.31%.
Zydus Cadila on Thursday sought emergency use approval for its ZyCoV-D three-dose COVID-19 vaccine. According to the company, it is the "world's first Plasmid DNA vaccine". The company has completed Phase III trials. Dr. NK Arora, President of the Covid Working Group, had told on Sunday that Zydus Cadila's vaccine for children above 12 years of age likely to available by August. Earlier on July 18, Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog had told that Zydus Cadila has enrolled over 28,000 volunteers for its Phase III study.
