Covid live updates: India preps for third wave as nearly 250 kids test positive for Covid in five days

French health authorities reported 30,920 new daily Covid-19 infections on Wednesday for the first time since April.

Reuters reported that the seven-day moving average of daily new Covid-19 cases now stands at 23,288 — above the 23,000 limit for the first time since 1 May.

This figure is almost 13 times higher than a 27 June low of 1,816.

Recently, the French government went ahead with the extension of health passes to enter cafes, restaurants and intercity travel. There were protests against the move across the country.

The French president had hoped that the move would help ramp up vaccination numbers.

Earlier French government spokesman Gabriel Attal had announced that the country would strengthen lockdown rules in the overseas territory of Guadeloupe to restrict the spread of the virus.

In New Zealand, prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the country plans to allow quarantine-free entry to fully vaccinated travellers from low-risk countries from early next year.

Ms Ardern said that vaccinated travellers from medium and high-risk countries will have to go through a combination of quarantine measures — that range from self-isolation to spending 14 days in quarantine.

She told the media: “We are simply not in a position to fully reopen just yet. When we move we will be careful and deliberate because we want to move with confidence and with as much certainty as possible.”

New Zealand has recorded 2,914 Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre, and only 26 deaths.

Meanwhile, Ms Ardern also stressed the need to fully vaccinate the entire population by the end of 2021.

The government has expressed concern about the low uptake of vaccines among women especially in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.

So far, only 46 per cent of the total 522 million doses administered in India have been given to women, according to health ministry data.

A senior official was quoted by the Times of India as saying: “At present, the gap between the coverage among males and females is about 7 – 8 per cent. This is slightly on the higher side given that there is not much difference in the overall adult male and female population ratio.”

The source added: “The gap in immunisation coverage between the two genders should not be more than 2 – 3 per cent.”

However, in Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, the data reveals that more women have received vaccines than men.

The government is now planning to work with the local state governments in order to ramp up vaccination numbers among women.

The Indian government has announced that permission to study the mixing of vaccine doses — Covishield and Covaxin — has been granted by the Drugs Controller General of India.

Dr VK Paul of NITI Aayog was quoted by the media as saying: “Permission has been granted for a research study at CMC Vellore on mixing of vaccine doses.”

Three hundred volunteers across the country will be administered a dose each of Covaxin and Covishield.

Recently the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had announced that combining two different vaccines was not only safe but also provided better immunity against coronavirus.

The ICMR study had analysed the results of accidental mixing of Covishield and Covaxin in a village in Uttar Pradesh in May.

Around 250 children have tested positive for Covid-19 in Bengaluru in the last five days, amid a spike in infections across the state.

This has alarmed experts as fears of a third wave loom large.

Data suggests that around 50 children have been testing positive for coronavirus almost every day since the last week of July.

During the devastating second wave across India, Karnataka reported a considerable number of children testing positive for Covid-19.

The state has decided to reopen schools for classes IX to XII from 23 August.