Coronavirus News Highlights: Today is the 284th day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. So far, India has recorded more than 1.03 crore confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 1.49 lakh deaths. A total of 99.06 lakh patients have recovered or been discharged, as per the latest data from the Union Health Ministry. India's recovery rate continues to rise and now stands at 96.1 percent. However, there are 2.50 lakh active cases in the country. Globally, more than 8.3 crore people have been infected by the novel coronavirus and 18.2 lakh have died so far. Many countries have granted emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines and have started the process of vaccinating healthcare workers and high-risk groups. India's regulator is expected to grant a similar approval soon.
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Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | 37 UK returnees test positive for COVID-19;Kerala reports
Thirty-seven people who returned from the UK to Kerala recently have tested positive for COVID-19, while the state recorded 5,328 new cases and 4,985 recoveries on Saturday, Health Minister K K Shailaja said. While thevirus caseload has gone up to 7,71,251, as many as 7,02,576 people have recovered. At least 2,40,490 people are under observation in various districts, including 11,811 in hospitals.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Japan to consider new COVID-19 emergency declaration
Japan will consider issuing a new emergency declaration after governors in the capital region urged action to tackle a record surge in COVID-19 cases, the head of the nation’s pandemic response said on Saturday.
The government needs to consult with health experts before deciding on a new declaration, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters after a meeting with Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike and leaders from three neighbouring prefectures.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
Delhi govt announces free COVID vaccine for people in city
The Delhi government on Saturday announced free COVID-19 vaccine doses to people in the capital city while and ensured the inoculation of one lakh people on a regular basis soon after it receives it from the Centre.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain made the announcement while reviewing the dry run of the Covid vaccination process at the Daryaganj dispensary in Central Delhi.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | India's active caseload down to 2.50 lakh
With India recording more recoveries from COVID-19 daily than the number of new infections, the active caseload dropped to 2.50 lakh and accounted for merely 2.43 per cent of the total cases, the Union Health Ministry said on December 1.
While 19,079 persons in India were found to be COVID-19 positive in a day, 22,926 new recoveries were registered during the same period. This has led to a net decline of 4,071 cases in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.
Five states -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh -- contribute 62 per cent of the total active cases.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
Over 50% of Indians opted for online mobile recharges in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic
Over 50 percent of mobile recharges in India were completed online in 2020 as people refrained from moving out of their homes due to the pandemic and the trend is likely to continue, according to a news report.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
As many as 494 new COVID-19 cases, 496 recoveries and 14 deaths were reported in Delhi in the last 24 hours, according to the Delhi Health Department. Delhi’s COVID-19 tally stands at 6.26 lakh, including 6.10 lakh recoveries and a death toll of 10,571.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Bangkok imposes partial lockdown to combat virus
Bangkok's nightlife will go quiet as a ban on bars, nightclubs and restaurant alcohol sales goes into effect today, among a raft of restrictions aimed at curbing the kingdom's rising coronavirus toll. Thailand initially appeared to have escaped the worst of the virus, registering just under 4,000 total cases in November, despite being the second country to detect an infection in January.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | COVID-19 vaccine dry run to continue in Assam till actual dose arrives: Official
In order to prepare the medical staff and infrastructure, the dry run for the COVID-19 vaccine will continue regularly across Assam till actual vaccination takes place, a senior official said today.
Talking to PTI, National Health Mission (NHM) Mission Director Lakshmanan S said the Health Department does not want to leave any stone unturned to find out any lacuna in the system before administering the vaccine to the people of the state.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Vietnam reports first case of new virus variant
Vietnam has detected its first imported case of the new coronavirus variant that is spreading rapidly around Britain, the health ministry said today. The variant was detected in a 44-year-old woman returning to Vietnam from Britain, who was quarantined upon arrival and was confirmed positive for the virus on December 24, the ministry said in a statement.
Vietnam is still operating repatriation flights to bring its citizens stuck in the UK home amid the pandemic. (Input from Reuters)
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has been discharged from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. However, he will remain in isolation and rest at his residence in Delhi for a few days, news agency ANI has quoted the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) as saying. Rawat had tested positive for COVID-19 on December 18, 2020.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that the COVID-19 vaccine shall be provided free of cost to most prioritised beneficiaries across the nation in the first phase.
“In the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, free vaccine shall be provided across the nation to most prioritised beneficiaries that include one crore healthcare and two crore frontline workers," he said in a tweet.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | New Year arrives with US hitting 20 million COVID cases
The United States marked the New Year yesterday by passing the extraordinary milestone of 20 million COVID-19 cases, after global celebrations welcoming in 2021 were largely muted by the pandemic. The US has floundered in its efforts to quell the virus, which is spreading rapidly across the country and has already caused more than 347,000 deaths – by far the highest national death toll.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Pfizer and BioNTech to offer COVID-19 vaccine to volunteers who got placebo
Pfizer and its partner BioNTech plan to give volunteers who received a placebo in its COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial an option to receive a first dose of the vaccine by March 1, 2021, while staying within the study.
The trial's Vaccine Transition Option allows all participants aged 16 or older the choice to discover whether they were given the placebo, "and for participants who learn they received the placebo, to have the option to receive the investigational vaccine while staying in the study," the companies said on their website for trial participants.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Thailand reports 216 new COVID-19 cases, one more death
Thailand confirmed 216 new COVID-19 cases and one more death today, taking the total number of infections to 7,379 cases and the number of deaths to 64 since the outbreak started last January.
The majority of the new cases were locally transmitted while two were imported from abroad, the government COVID-19 task force said. (Input from Reuters)
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
AstraZeneca expects to supply 20 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses every week in UK
About 20 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca are set to be supplied every week by the middle of January in the United Kingdom, The Times reported.
AstraZeneca expects to supply 20 lakh doses of the vaccine in total by next week, the newspaper reported, citing an unnamed member of the Oxford-AstraZeneca team. "The plan is then to build it up fairly rapidly - by the third week of January we should get to two million a week," the report added. (Input from Reuters)
Coronavirus in India LIVE updates |
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that 17,39,41,658 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country till yesterday (January 2). Of these, 8,29,964 were tested yesterday.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that COVID-19 vaccines that get approval will be safe and urged people to not believe in rumours.
"I appeal to people not to pay heed to rumours. Ensuring safety and efficacy of vaccine is our priority. Different kinds of rumours were spread during polio immunisation but people took the vaccine and India is now polio-free," the union minister said.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan:
The DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) will take a call (on emergency use authorisation of COVID-19 vaccines) soon based on its deliberation.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates | Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan after reviewing the dry run in a Delhi hospital:
We have made improvements to our vaccination procedure based on the feedback we received after the first dry run round in four states.
Coronavirus in India LIVE updates |
As many as 19,079 new COVID-19 cases and 224 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. India’s COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 96.1 percent.
Coronavirus in India LIVE updates | JUST IN:
Reported active COVID-19 cases in India now stand at 2,50,183. As many as 99,06,387 COVID-19 patients have been cured and discharged so far, the Union Health Ministry has said in its latest update.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
An expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) yesterday recommended emergency use authorisation (EUA) "with conditions" for Serum Institute of India (SII)'s Covishield vaccine, news reports suggest. The vaccine candidate is developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca.
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) recommended in favour of the EUA approval to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for SII's Vaccine. The DCGI receives recommendations from the SEC.
Read | Panel recommends emergency use authorisation for SII's Covishield 'with conditions': Reports
Coronavirus in India LIVE updates |
Total confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stand at 1.02 crore. This number includes cases related to foreign nationals, reported active cases, patients who have recovered and the COVID-19 death toll in the country.
While 98.8 lakh patients have recovered, 1.48 lakh have died. Total active cases in the country stand at 2.54 lakh. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the worst-affected.
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates |
Total confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world stand at 8.3 crore, according to the Reuters tracker. This figure includes COVID-19 patients who have recovered and the overall global death toll which stands at more than 18 lakh.
With over 1.9 crore reported cases so far, the United States is the worst-affected country in the world. The US is followed by India, Brazil, Russia and France.
While restrictions have been eased significantly in China, where the novel coronavirus outbreak as first reported in late 2019, new hotspots continue to emerge across the world. Besides this, many countries, especially in Europe are witnessing a strong second wave of cases.
Hello and welcome to Moneycontrol’s LIVE coverage of the novel coronavirus pandemic and its socio-economic impact.
The COVID-19 outbreak has spread across 220 countries and territories. Today is the 284th day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the infectious disease. Daily cases being reported in India have been dropping consistently over the last couple of months. Thus, the reopening process is also speeding up. Yet, states and Union Territories have continued to impose some local restrictions when and where required.
Stay tuned to this LIVE blog for the latest updates through the day.
