Here are the top-10 developments on this front from the past 24 hours:
Delhi recorded 7,486 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, with 131 deaths - the highest fatalities for a 24-hour duration till now in the city. The total number of cases in Delhi now stands at 5,03,084, with 42,458 active ones. Up to 7,943 people have died of the disease till now, putting the death rate at 1.58%, while the recovery rate is at 89.9%.
The Delhi government has permitted the chiefs of all its COVID-19 hospitals to get tests conducted at DGHS rates at DGHS-listed laboratories if the testing facilities are not available in the government hospitals.
The Delhi government has allowed COVID-19 designated hospitals to engage fourth and fifth-year MBBS students, interns, and BDS doctors to assist duty doctors in controlling the pandemic. They will be paid an honorarium of Rs 1,000 for an 8-hour shift and Rs 2,000 for a 12-hour shift per day.
The total recoveries for India stood at 83,83,602 as of Thursday morning, putting the country's overall recovery rate at 93.5%.
The total number of tests conducted in the past 24 hours was 10,28,203, with a test positivity rate of 4.4%.
The Telangana government has drastically reduced RT PCR testing rates for private laboratories from Rs 2,200 to Rs 850. People are advised to avail government testing facilities for COVID-19 testing, free of cost.
The Odisha government has designated a special hospital for COVID-19 warriors. The state Health and Family Welfare Department has named Aditya Ashwini COVID-19 Hospital in Bhubaneswar specially for the treatment of doctors and frontline warriors battling the virus.
Pfizer and BioNTech could secure emergency US and European authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success rate and no serious side effects. The vaccine's efficacy was found to be consistent across different ages and ethnicities - a promising sign given the disease has disproportionately hurt the elderly and certain groups including Black people.
The World Health Organization's emergencies director has warned that vaccines would not arrive in time to defeat the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO's Michael Ryan said vaccines should not be seen as a “unicorn” magic solution, and countries battling a resurgence of the virus would once again have to “climb this mountain” without vaccines.
US coronavirus deaths passed a quarter of a million people Wednesday as New York announced it would close schools to battle a rise in infections and protests in Europe against restrictions turned violent. America has now registered 250,029 fatalities, according to a running tally by Johns Hopkins University, by far the highest national death number.
Covid-19 Cases Rising Again: WHO Issues Urgent Alert On Potentially Severe Variants Covid-19 Still Driving High Mortality Rate In This Country Biden Returns To White House After Exiting US Presidential Race Kolkata Rape-Murder: Fractures, 150 mg Semen, Other Claims Denied By Cops Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah To Be Prosecuted In Land Scam Case Kolkata Rape-Murder: 5 Demands Of Doctors On 24-Hour Nationwide Strike How Rupert Murdoch Helped Create A Monster - The Era Of Trumpism Girl, 14, Raped By School Teacher In UP, Dies After Months Of Treatment Keerthy Redefines Retro Style With An Ethnic Spin In A White Floral Saree Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.