India added 20,035 coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, placing its overall number at 1.02 crore cases, the Health Ministry's data this morning showed. The number of fresh infections is 8 per cent lower than on Thursday. In this period, India reported 256 deaths linked to the virus, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,48,994. The number of active cases in the country stood at 2,54,254, which is more than 3,400 fewer since yesterday. Up to 23,181 people recovered since Thursday, taking the overall number of recovered people since the outbreak began to 98,83,461.
A government-appointed panel of experts will today once again take up the applications of Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech, and Pfizer for the approval of emergency-use of COVID-19 vaccines developed by them. Serum Institute, which is making Covishield, developed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca, had made a presentation before the panel on Wednesday along with Bharat Biotech, which has partnered the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Covaxin. Pfizer had sought more time to present their data.
In view of declining COVID-19 cases, the Delhi government has reduced the bed-strength reserved for coronavirus patients in 108 private city hospitals. However, at five big facilities - Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital (Saket), Fortis Super Speciality Hospital (Vasant Kunj), Saroj Super Speciality Hospital (Rohini), Maha Durga Charitable Trust Hospital (Model Town), and Sir Ganga Ram City Hospital (Pusa), up to 80 per cent of all beds will remain reserved for Covid.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala remain the worst-hit states in the country.
The Indian High Commission in the UK has suspended all consular services till January 8, 2021 due to the heightened COVID-19-related restrictions in that country. The new strain of the virus has caused a stir as it is reported to be more transmissible than other SARS-CoV-2 variants.
India's national COVID-19 recovery rate has crossed 96 per cent, one of the highest globally, the Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday.
The final exams for Classes 10 and 12 of schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be held from May 4 to June 10, while the results will be announced on July 15, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced on Thursday. The three-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic sparked concerns about the impact on college admissions, especially for those intending to study abroad.
The Health Ministry said on Thursday that it had ensured delivery of 36,433 ventilators to government hospitals at an average cost ranging between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh as the domestic industry took up manufacturing. It said public health facilities in the country had only around 16,000 ventilators in all since independence till pre-COVID times. In less than 12 months, 36,433 Make in India ventilators had been supplied, it said.
France on Thursday detected its first case of the South African variant of coronavirus. The variant, believed to be more easily transmitted like the British one, was discovered in France in a man who had returned from South Africa. Cases have also been found in Japan and Britain, among other places.
The WHO on Thursday granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve its import and distribution.
A 45-year-old nurse in California tested positive for COVID-19 over a week after receiving Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine, news reports said on Tuesday. The nurse, who works at two different local hospitals, said in a Facebook post on December 18 that he had received the Pfizer vaccine and had suffered no side-effects. Six days later, on Christmas Eve, he became sick after working a shift in the COVID-19 unit. He went to a drive-up hospital testing site and tested positive for COVID-19 the day after Christmas, the report said.
