The number of new coronavirus infections in India has jumped 18% recorded with 45,576 recorded in the past 24 hours, according to government data. That takes the overall figure to 89,58,483 since the outbreak in January. Up to 585 people died of the disease since yesterday, the overall number till now being 1,31,578. Up to 4.43 lakh active cases remain in the country.
Delhi recorded 7,546 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the infection tally in the national capital to over 5.1 lakh, even as 98 more fatalities pushed the count to 8,041, authorities said.
Meanwhile, Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said he was confident that the COVID-19 vaccine would be ready in the next three-four months and added that the priority to provide the same to 135 crore Indians would be based on scientific evaluation.
The Minister was addressing the FICCI FLO webinar on "The Shifting Healthcare Paradigm During and Post-Covid" today.
"I am confident that the COVID-19 vaccine will be ready in the next three-four months. Priority for the vaccine will be designed on the basis of scientific data. Health care workers and corona warriors will naturally be prioritised followed by elderly and disease-prone people. Very detailed planning is underway for vaccine dissemination. An e-vaccine intelligence platform has been created to discuss the blueprint for the same. Tracking and tracing of the vaccine would be neck-deep once it's available for the public. Hopefully, 2021 should be a better year for all of us," the Health Minister said.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus Cases:
The anti-viral drug remdesivir should not be used to treat Covid-19 patients no matter how severe their illness as it has "no important effect" on survival chances, the World Health Organization said Friday.
Scratching one of the few treatments that had shown some initial promise in severe patients, a WHO Guideline Development Group (GDG) of international experts said there was "no evidence based on currently available data that it does improve patient-important outcomes".
The United States, the European Union and other countries have granted temporary approval for the use of remdesivir after initial research showed it may shorten recovery time in some coronavirus patients.
Union Home Ministry said on Thursday that it has advised Haryana and UP governments to hold a survey of private hospitals in their NCR districts on the lines of Delhi over preparedness to tackle COVID-19.
The ministry, which made a series of tweets, said about 150 ICU beds have been added in the last three days in Delhi following directions of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
It said that capacity of RT-PCR tests in Delhi will be ramped up to 60,000 per day by end of November.
"After HM's review meeting on Delhi''s COVID situation, more than 28,708 RT-PCR tests conducted on November 18. Capacity of RT-PCR tests to be ramped up to 60,000 per day by end of November. MHA has advised Haryana and UP govts to hold survey of pvt hospitals in their NCR districts on the lines of Delhi," MHA said.
US President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday he would not order a nationwide shutdown to fight the Covid-19 pandemic despite a surge in cases.
States and cities have been imposing their own restrictions, including home confinement, the closure of indoor dining and a limit on gatherings as infections soar across the country.
"There's no circumstance which I can see that would require total national shutdown. I think that would be counterproductive," Biden, who takes office on January 20, told reporters.
He said however that rules for when and how businesses and other establishments can open would have to be calibrated based on the threat in the area in question, noting the varying levels of spread throughout the country.
Andhra Pradesh reported 1,316 new cases of COVID-19 taking the tally of total cases to 8,58,711, said state government on Thursday.
According to state government, total recoveries in the state stand at 8,35,801 with 1,821 people recovered in last 24 hours.
The death count reached 6,911 in the state with eleven people succumbed to the disease. Out of the eleven deaths reported today, two people each succumbed in Chittoor and Krishna district while one death each reported in Anantapur, East Godavari, Guntur, Nellore, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and West Godavari districts.
The number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Germany increased by 22,609 in 24 hours, bringing the total to 855,916, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said on Thursday. The increase is slightly above the previous week's level.
Germany is currently in the second half of a month-long partial coronavirus lockdown.
The situation is "still serious, very serious," said RKI President Lothar Wieler at a press conference on Thursday. The case numbers are "still very high overall, much too high."
"The case numbers have stabilized at a high level in the last two weeks," said Wieler. "But we do not know whether this is already a trend reversal."
In a bid to bring under control the COVID-19 pandemic in the city, a curfew will be imposed in Ahmedabad from 9 pm on November 20 to 6 am on November 23, after which a night curfew will remain in force.
"Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation declared night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am every day from tomorrow in order to control the spread of COVID-19. The situation was reviewed late night and it has been decided that a complete curfew shall be imposed from tomorrow night 9 pm till Monday morning at 6 am in the city of Ahmedabad," an order said on Thursday.
During this period, only shops selling milk and medicines will be permitted to remain open.
Meghalaya reported 109 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 10,979, a senior health
Tripura on Thursday reported 105 new COVID-19 cases, taking the state''s tally to 32,217, a
Chandigarh: #COVID19 tests conducted at Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT17) for incoming bus passengers & staff
- ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2020
"We're doing rapid antigen tests for last 3 days. Almost 10 people tested positive till now. These people advised & provided medicine kit too," says testing staff member pic.twitter.com/f2nAltxdLv
Delhi government directs 42 private hospitals to reserve 80% of their total ICU/HDU bed capacity for treatment of #COVID19 patients with immediate effect. pic.twitter.com/dYqjJftb5f
- ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2020
After initial symptoms of COVID19, I got myself tested and the report came positive. I have isolated myself. I request everyone who has come in my contact to be careful and follow the protocol. Stay safe.
- Sadananda Gowda (@DVSadanandGowda) November 19, 2020
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a steep ₹ 2,000 fine -- up from the current ₹ 500 -- for those caught without masks, to help control the coronavirus surge that's in its third week. The Chief Minister also appealed to all political parties and social organisations to distribute masks at public places in Delhi.
The hard line by the government came after days of pleas.
As the virus rampaged across a city weakened by sliding mercury and an envelope of smoke, Mr Kejriwal had repeatedly appealed to people with folded hands to wear masks and maintain safety norms. But the mad rush of the festive season had prevailed, pushing the daily tally of fresh cases and fatalities to record highs each week since the beginning of November.
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thursday said he was confident that the COVID-19 vaccine would be ready in the next three-four months and added that the priority to provide the same to 135 crore Indians would be based on scientific evaluation.
The Minister was addressing the FICCI FLO webinar on ''The Shifting Healthcare Paradigm During and Post-Covid'' today.
"I am confident that the COVID-19 vaccine will be ready in the next three-four months. Priority for the vaccine will be designed on the basis of scientific data. Health care workers and corona warriors will naturally be prioritised followed by elderly and disease-prone people. Very detailed planning is underway for vaccine dissemination. An e-vaccine intelligence platform has been created to discuss the blueprint for the same. Tracking and tracing of the vaccine would be neck-deep once it's available for the public. Hopefully, 2021 should be a better year for all of us," the Health Minister said.
The Delhi High Court today severely criticised the Delhi government for its flip-flop on the cap on the number of wedding attendees in the wake of a fresh wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping the city.
"Why wait till now to reduce number of attendees at weddings?" the High Court asked the Aam Admi Party (AAP) government today, according to PTI. Delhi on Tuesday scaled down the number of people allowed at weddings from 200 to 50 amid a surge in coronavirus cases. This decision overturned an earlier one, declared by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), to ease a 50-persons-only cap on wedding functions.
A jewellery store in Madhya Pradesh's Indore - one of the worst hit districts in the state by the novel coronavirus outbreak - has been temporarily closed for cleaning and disinfection after 31 employees tested positive for the highly infectious Covid-19. Health officials have started tracing the customers who visited the store in the last week.
"We have started tracing the infected staff and customers, who would have come in contact with them over the past week. We want to check if any of them has cough, cold or other symptoms of Covid so that we can have them tested," Chief Medical Officer Dr Pravin Jadia told reporters. The jewellery showroom - Anand Jewels - is being sanitised and will reopen only after fumigation is completed, officials said.
Millions across the country celebrated Diwali and Dhanteras last week and the number of people visiting the markets rose up significantly amid festivity, compared to the last few months. Visuals from Delhi and Mumbai showed people roaming around the streets without masks and violating the government-mandated social distancing norms.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called an all-party meeting on Thursday to discuss a strategy for COVID-19 management and containment in Delhi, where cases have been spiralling since October end.
The meeting is likely to be attended by BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party legislators, and will be held at 11am in the Delhi Secretariat.
The Telangana government has drastically reduced RT PCR testing rates for private laboratories from ₹ 2,200 to ₹ 850. People are advised to avail government testing facilities for COVID-19 testing, free of cost.
45,576 fresh COVID-19 cases in India, 18% higher than yesterday; 89.5 lakh total cases so far, 1,31,578 deaths
Delhi recorded 7,486 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking the infection tally in the city to over 5 lakh, while 131 new fatalities, the highest single-day count till date, pushed the number of deaths to 7,943, authorities said.
The new cases came out of over 62,000 tests conducted the previous day, marking a positivity rate of 12.03 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the national capital, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik designated a special hospital for Covid-19 warriors and held a review meeting to take stock of the coronavirus situation in Odisha.
In a letter, addressed to the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET), and the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), Deputy Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department stated that the Odisha government is pleased to designate the Aditya Ashwini COVID-19 Hospital for the treatment of doctors and frontline warriors against the virus.
The Odisha government has designated a special hospital for the treatment of doctors and front line healthcare workers and aims to provide them better health care facilities.
Later during the day, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a review meeting to take stock of the Covid-19 situation in the state.
Pfizer Inc and BioNTech could secure emergency US and European authorization for their COVID-19 vaccine next month after final trial results showed it had a 95% success rate and no serious side effects, the drugmakers said on Wednesday.
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 US Food and Drug Administration could grant emergency-use by the middle of December, BioNTech Chief Executive Ugur Sahin told Reuters TV. Conditional approval in the European Union could be secured in the second half of December, he added.
"If all goes well I could imagine that we gain approval in the second half of December and start deliveries before Christmas, but really only if all goes positively," he said.
In view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi government on Wednesday 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.
According to an official order, the fourth-year and fifth-year MBBS students and dental doctors will assist duty doctors at the honorarium of Rs 1,000 for an 8-hour shift and Rs 2,000 for a 12-hour shift per day.
"In view of the COVID-19 pandemic and increased demand of ICU beds and medical HR in the hospitals of GNCTD Delhi for management of COVID-19, all MDs/Directors of COVID Hospitals of GNCTD are permitted to engage 4th and 5th-year MBBS students, Interns and BDS pass doctors to assist the duty doctors at the honorarium of Rs 1,000 (8 hrs shift) and Rs 2,000 (12 hrs shift) per day by exercising powers delegated to them Under Section 50 of Disaster Management Act," the order said.
Saudi Arabia hosts the G20 summit Saturday in a first for an Arab nation, but the scaled-down virtual format could limit debate on a resurgent coronavirus pandemic and crippling economic crisis.
The two-day meeting of the world's wealthiest nations follows a bitter US election the results of which remain disputed by President Donald Trump and comes amid criticism of what campaigners call the group's inadequate response to the worst recession in decades.
Held under the shadow of a raging pandemic, the summit which is usually an opportunity for one-on-one engagements between world leaders, is reduced to brief online sessions on pressing global issues -- from climate change to growing inequality.
Discussions are expected to be dominated by the "implications of the pandemic" and "steps for reviving the global economy", a source close to the Saudi organisers told AFP.
New vaccine breakthroughs have raised hopes of containing the virus, which has infected 55 million people globally and left 1.3 million dead. The Paris-based OECD projects global economic output will contract by 4.5 percent this year.
The World Health Organization's emergencies director warned Wednesday 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 them.
"I think it's at least four to six months before we have significant levels of vaccination going on anywhere," he said, during a public question and answer session live on social media.
Despite recent promising announcements from final-phase candidate vaccine trials, "We're not there with vaccines yet," said Ryan.
"Many countries are going through this wave, and they're going to go through this wave, and continue through this wave, without vaccines.
"We need to understand and internalise that, and realise: we have got to climb this mountain this time, 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 toll.
US states and cities are imposing a raft of new restrictions, including home confinement, the closure of indoor dining and a limit on gatherings as cases soar across the country.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's 1,800 public schools would revert to remote learning beginning Thursday after the Big Apple recorded a seven-day average positivity rate of three percent.
"We must fight back the second wave of Covid-19," he said.