India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,01,23,778 with 24,712 new infections being reported in a day, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 96.93 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The death count increased to 1,46,756 with 312 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 96,93,173 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.69 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.
The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the third consecutive day.
There are 2,83,849 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 2.86 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
Here are the live updates on Coronavirus Cases:
In a tweet, the ICMR said, "India's indigenous vaccine against #COVID19 Covaxin-a product of ICMR-Bharat Biotech collaboration, achieves remarkable feat. Data generated from within India underlines impressive safety and immunogenicity profile of Covaxin and sparks Lancet's interest in publishing them."
The ICMR said, "Encouraging Phase I and Phase II COVAXIN trial results have paved the path for Phase III Clinical Trial in India, which is currently ongoing at 22 sites."
"Preparations have reached very advanced stages," Health Minister Khalid Ait Taleb said in a statement on the roll-out plans.
"Field exercises covering all stages of the process of vaccinating citizens have been put in place."
A government source confirmed to AFP that Morocco has opted for the Chinese Sinopharm and British AstraZeneca vaccines, which both require two shots.
No date has been given for the arrival of the jabs or for the start of the vaccine rollout, AFP reported.
Ankara in the next few days will also sign a deal with Pfizer/BioNTech for 4.5 million doses, with the option to buy 30 million more from the US pharmaceutical giant and its German partner, Koca said
Turkey will initially receive three million doses of Sinovac and have the option for 50 million more as it begins inoculations next month, starting with healthcare workers and the most vulnerable.
Koca said the first shipments of the Chinese vaccine will be sent to Turkey on Sunday, AFP reported.
The state Health Department said the total count of cases has gone up to 19,09,951 and includes 54,891 active cases and 18,04,871 recoveries. The death count has gone up to 49,058, ANI reported.
"Today in my parliamentary constituency, a Wear a Mask campaign has been started to distribute free masks to the public as a message of making mask compulsory," Mr Reddy said while speaking to ANI.
Karnataka reported 1,143 new #COVID19 cases, 1,268 discharges and 1 death today.
- ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020
Total cases: 9,13,483
Total discharges: 8,87,815
Death toll: 12,039
Active cases: 13,610 pic.twitter.com/VHf8U1nXEc

The Delhi government is fully prepared to receive, store and administer COVID-19 vaccine to 51 lakh priority category persons in the city in the first phase of vaccination, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday.
Telangana: MoS Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy distributed masks in Hyderabad, earlier today
- ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020
"There is no need for lockdown as of now. People must follow safety precautions of wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing" he said. pic.twitter.com/y5tDa05136
Bihar's COVID-19 tally mounted to 2,49,335 as 668 more people tested positive for the infection, while four deaths pushed the death count to 1,371, a health department bulletin said. At least 522 people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,42,766, it said.
Delhi reports 1,063 new #COVID19 cases, 1,120
- ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020
recoveries and 37 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Delhi Health Department
Total cases: 6,20,681
Total recoveries: 6,02,388
Death toll: 10,384
Active cases: 7,909 pic.twitter.com/MazjzX84kT
Uttar Pradesh reported 21 more COVID-19 fatalities and 1,166 new cases, pushing the death count to 8,266 and the infection tally to 5,78,697 in the state. Currently, there are 16,229 active cases in the state, and 5,54,202 people have recovered from the disease so far, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said. He said the recovery rate in the state stood at 95.75 per cent.
Mexico started a mass coronavirus vaccination program on Thursday with a nurse first to be shown receiving the jab in the country with one of the world's highest Covid-19 death counts. The televised launch came a day after the first 3,000 doses produced by US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech arrived by courier plane from Belgium.
Rajasthan reported 1,001 new #COVID19 cases, 8 deaths and 970 recoveries/discharges today.
- ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020
Total cases: 3,02,709
Death toll: 2,650
Total recoveries/discharges: 2,88,388
Active cases: 11,759
Government of India handed over another consignment of RT-PCR #COVID19 test kits for 20,000 tests today to the Royal Government of Bhutan: Embassy of India, Thimphu pic.twitter.com/nT7PNFU3Kb
- ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2020
Two passengers on UK flights who tested positive on arrival in Delhi this week fled isolation centres and reached their hometowns in Andhra Pradesh and Punjab. They have been tracked down and admitted in government facilities amid worries about a fast-spreading mutant strain of the coronavirus found in the UK. Read more

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday that the COVID-19 outbreak seems to be mellow in the capital with less than 1 per cent positivity rate on Wednesday.
Northern Ireland on Wednesday confirmed a positive test for the highly infectious variant of the coronavirus that has emerged in Britain. Read more



At least 22 people who came to India from the UK in the past few days have tested positive for COVID-19 amid alarm over a mutant strain of the coronavirus that is believed to be more contagious and was first identified in Britain. Read more

Himachal Pradesh reported 437 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to the State Health Department.
With this, the Covid-19 tally of the state reached 53,392 including 4,629 active cases.
While 882 people have succumbed to the lethal virus, 47,834 persons have recovered from the viral infection.
More than a million people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Robert Redfield said Wednesday.
"The United States achieved an early but important milestone today -- jurisdictions have now reported that more than one million people have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine since administration began 10 days ago," he said.
As many as 3,913 new coronavirus cases and 93 fatalities were reported in Maharashtra on Wednesday, according to the State Health Department.
With this, the tally of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the state has reached 19,06,371, including 54,573 active cases and 48,969 deaths.
Besides, 7,620 people also reportedly recovered on Wednesday in Maharashtra, pushing the total number of recoveries to 18,01,700.