For the first time, the number of RT-PCR tests in Delhi has exceeded the number of rapid antigen tests, while over 3.7 lakh people have been surveyed as part of the efforts to curb the spread of coronavirus in the national capital, the Union Home Ministry said on Sunday.
Delhi's AIIMS has started recruitment process of 207 junior doctors. 250 ventilators have reached DRDO hospital and are being installed. Till November 20 as many as 3.7 lakh people covered in house to house survey. These steps being taken to ramp up infrastructure in the capital.
With 45,209 new COVID-19 cases and 501 deaths in the last 24 hours, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in India reached 90.95 lakh on Sunday morning, government data showed. Delhi recorded the highest number of cases and deaths in the country in the last 24 hours.
The overall cases include 4,40,962 active cases and 85,21,617 recoveries. With 501 new deaths, the coronavirus death count in the country mounted to 1,33,227.
This is the fifteenth day when India reported less than 50,000 cases in a day. The last time daily new cases crossed the 50,000-threshold was on November 7.
Maharashtra remains the top affected state in the country with over 17.74 lakh cases. There are over 80,000 active cases in the state and in the last 24 hours Maharashtra recorded 5,760 cases. The total deaths in the state is over 46,000. The other top affected states are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Here are the LIVE updates on Coronavirus Cases:
West Bengal will lose the chance to conduct Phase II clinical trial of Russian COVID-19 vaccine candidate Sputnik V because of the delay in grant of approval by the state government, a top official of an organisation involved in facilitating the exercise said on Sunday.
The trials were proposed to start at the state-run College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital (CMSDH) in North 24 Parganas district adjoining Kolkata later this week along with six other centres in different parts of the country.
"We will not be able to hold the Phase II trials of Sputnik-V vaccine at the CMSDH because of the slow approach of the state health department in giving the approval. We had applied for the approval on November 4 and there is no response yet. It's too late now.
The COVID-19-related death toll in the African continent reached 49,412, while the total reported cases were 2,057,001 as of Sunday afternoon, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said.
A total of 1,737,277 people have recovered across the continent so far, according to the Africa CDC.
The most COVID-19 affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Ethiopia, figures from the Africa CDC showed.
South Africa currently has the most COVID-19 cases at 765,409.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that the world is living in "a phase of a silent war" as it continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic adding that the time has come for modern medicine and India's "traditional system to go together with an integrative approach" to impact lives.
"We have not seen the Spanish Flu, World War I, and World war II. But we are living in a phase of a silent war. Over 100 million people perished. And in many cases, they could not be visited by their dear ones during the last moments of life," Mr Vardhan said while addressing the Boston Center of Excellence for Health and Human Development here today through Video Conference.
"Their last-rites and funerals were also had to be done very humbly. And those millions who survived also have many complications, besides the financial burden put on them," he added.
Another 18,662 people in Britain have tested positive for the COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,512,045, according to official figures released Sunday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 398 to 55,024, the data showed.
Amid this, ministers from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on Sunday backed plans to allow different households to meet "for a small number of days" over Christmas.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will attend the virtual meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy on Tuesday, a senior leader of the ruling Trinamool Congress said.
PM Modi is likely to hold virtual meetings with chief ministers and other representatives of states and union territories on Tuesday to review the coronavirus situation and discuss vaccine distribution strategy.
The COVID-19 death count in West Bengal till Sunday is 8,025 and the total caseload is 4,56,361.
Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya has tested positive for COVID-19.
In a tweet in Hindi on Sunday, the Governor said, "My coronavirus test report has come positive. I am asymptomatic and have no problem."
"I have isolated myself under the supervision of the doctors. Those of you who have come in close contact with me in the last few days, please be cautious and get yourself tested," Governor Maurya said.
The West Delhi district authorities ordered two evening markets in Nangloi to be shut for violating various COVID-19 safety guidelines on social distancing and wearing of masks, officials said.
Delhi reported 6,746 new #COVID19 cases, 6,154 recoveries, and 121 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Delhi Health Department
- ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2020
Total cases till date: 5,29,863
Total recoveries till date: 4,81,260
Active cases till date: 40,212
Death toll: 8,391 pic.twitter.com/O0MsmAobiJ
G20 leaders said Sunday they will "spare no effort" to ensure the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines worldwide, and support poor countries whose economies have been ravaged by the crisis.
9 deaths and 466 new #COVID19 cases reported in Uttarakhand today.
- ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2020
The total number of positive cases in the state is 71,256 including 65,102 recoveries, 4,368 active cases and 1,155 deaths. pic.twitter.com/HOx42IYjnV
Kerala records 5,254 new #COVID19 cases today; active cases in the state at 65,856. Total 4,94,664 recoveries have been reported so far: Kerala Government pic.twitter.com/B080pYMNjT
- ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2020
Puducherry reports 46 new #COVID19 cases, 88 discharges.
- ANI (@ANI) November 22, 2020
Total positive cases in the Union Territory rise to 36,693 till date, including 559 active cases, 35,525 recoveries & 609 deaths: Directorate of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Puducherry pic.twitter.com/ry8RGYXiKJ
21 States and UTs are reporting lower than the national average of deaths per million (96). pic.twitter.com/xjnjcPy2qx
- Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) November 22, 2020
Holding an extensive meeting to review the #COVID19 situation across the state. Taking stock of the prevailing conditions & ongoing efforts to contain the virus. Our topmost priority is to save lives, provide adequate treatment & encourage ppl to strictly follow health protocols. pic.twitter.com/kLiP1BPaOo
- Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) November 22, 2020
As many as 873 new COVID-19 cases, 1,296 discharges, and 4 deaths due to coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours, according to Telangana, state Health Department.
The total count of coronavirus cases increased to 2,63,526 including 2,50,453 discharges and 1,430 deaths while the active cases currently stand at 11,643 in the state.
Currently, there are 9,345 people under home or institutional isolation in the state.
As many as 41,646 samples were tested for the pathogen while a total of 51,34,335 samples were sent for evaluation till now.
To ramp up Delhi's medical infrastructure to deal with the surge in COVID-19 cases, Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday said that the number of COVID and ICU beds was increased in the hospitals.
"We have increased the number of beds in hospitals. As many as 17,292 COVID-19 beds available in Delhi out of which 7700 beds are empty as of now. Intensive care unit (ICU) beds have also been increased by 400, more will be added in the days to come. Around 250 ICU beds will be increased in private hospitals too," Satyendar Jain said in a daily press briefing.
Odisha's COVID-19 tally on Sunday mounted to 3,13,961 with 638 more people testing
High-level central teams have been sent to four more states -- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh -- to help the state governments tackle the Covid surge. Last week, the Union Government has sent the high level teams to Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur, and Chhattisgarh.
For the first time, the number of RT-PCR tests in Delhi exceeded Rapid Antigen Tests and as many as 250 new ventilators were delivered to the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) hospital to expand the COVID-19 treatment capacity in the national capital, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Sunday.
"For the first time number of RT-PCR tests in Delhi have exceeded Rapid Antigen Tests. 250 ventilators were delivered to DRDO hospital and are being installed. House to house survey started in Delhi and a total of 3,70,729 people were surveyed on November 20," the MHA said.
The Home Ministry also informed that All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had begun recruitment of additional 207 junior residents to increase their medical staff in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in Delhi.
Acting on Chief Minister and party chief Arvind Kejriwal's appeal, all Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs, councillors and volunteers on Sunday will distribute masks and sensitise people in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in Delhi.
The AAP leaders and volunteers will cover all prominent market areas in 70 assembly constituencies in the national capital.
Taking to Twitter on November 20, Mr Kejriwal appealed to AAP MLAs, MPs, councillors and volunteers to those not wearing a mask.
"Dear AAP MLAs, MPs, councillors, volunteers, Go to public places n distribute free masks to those not wearing a mask. Today, this is the best deshbhakti n manav sewa. I urge all political parties also to ask their volunteers to do this Lets join hands to stop spread of corona," he tweeted.
Arunachal Pradesh for the eighth consecutive day reported more COVID-19 recoveries than
Complaints have been registered against Congress workers on Saturday for not following COVID-19 mandated norms during an event that took place on Friday.
"Complaints were registered against workers in four districts for violation of all social and medical COVID-19 related norms mandated by the state such as not practicing social distancing and not wearing masks," said Gwalior SP Amit Sanghi.
Telangana saw 873 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the aggregate to over 2.63 lakh
Streets wore a deserted look as night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am was imposed in Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot on Saturday.
With the spike in coronavirus cases in the state, the Gujarat government decided on Friday to impose a night curfew in Surat and Rajkot from November 21.
The announcement came as a 57-hour-long weekend curfew came into effect from 9 pm on Saturday in three states, which will end at 6 am on November 23.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel announced curfew between 9:00 pm and 6:00 am in Surat, Rajkot, and Vadodara cities from Saturday. "The curfew will remain in force until further announcement. I urge citizens to cooperate with authorities to contain the virus," Mr Patel said in a statement.
Forty new cases of the coronavirus were recorded in Mizoram in the last 24 hours taking the total cases to 3,647, the state health department reported on Saturday.
A total of 3,157 people were discharged in the state, after recovering from the infection. Five deaths have been reported so far due to the deadly virus.
There are 485 active cases of COVID-19 in the state at present, as per the state health department.
Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally mounted to 1,07,332 on Sunday as 175 more people tested
Coronavirus cases in India rose by 45,209 in the last 24 hours taking the total number of infections in the country to 90.95 lakh, government data showed today. 501 deaths were reported in the last day taking the total fatalities due to the deadly disease to over 1.33 lakh. There are over 4.4 lakh active cases in the country and over 85 lakh patients have recovered so far from the highly contagious disease.
he Rajasthan government has imposed the night curfew from 8 pm to 6 am in eight district headquarters- Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar and Bhilwara in view of COVID-19 spread.
The decision has been taken after a cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said. Read more here
Moscow has registered 75 deaths of patients infected with COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death count to 8,308, the city's coronavirus response center said in a statement on Saturday.
"Another 75 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow," the centre said.
19,875 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,493,383, according to official figures released Saturday.
The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 341 to 54,626, the data showed.
Mumbai reported 1,092 new cases of COVID-19, taking the tally of infected people in the metropolis to 2,74,572.
According to a report by the Municipal Corporation Greater Mumbai, the city reported 1,565 recoveries/discharges and 14 COVID-related fatalities on Tuesday.
As many as 2,51,509 recoveries/discharges and 10,654 deaths due to the deadly pathogen have been reported so far, while the active cases stand at 9,325.
Leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies on Sunday will pledge to pay for a fair distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and tests around the world so that poorer countries are not left out, and to extend debt relief to them, a draft G20 communique showed.
"We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members' commitments to incentivize innovation," the leaders said in the draft G20 statement, seen by Reuters. "We recognize the role of extensive immunization as a global public good."
The leaders said the global economy was starting to pick up but the recovery remained "uneven, highly uncertain and subject to elevated downside risks."
The United States surpassed 12 million Covid-19 cases Saturday, according to the Johns Hopkins University real-time tracker.
The world's largest economy currently has 12,019,960 cases and 255,414 deaths, both by far the worst global tolls. The new toll comes just six days after the US crossed the 11-million case threshold.
Cases have been surging in the US at an alarming rate, forcing many cities to re-impose punishing lockdown measures.
Health authorities have urged people to stay home for next week's Thanksgiving holiday, when Americans usually travel from coast to coast to be with their families.
New York City has shut down schools for its 1.1 million students, while California began imposing a 10:00 pm to 5:00 am curfew from Saturday.
Terming the COVID-19 pandemic an important turning point in history of humanity and the biggest challenge the world is facing since World War II, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit on Saturday called for a new global index based on talent, technology, transparency and trusteeship towards the planet in the post-corona world.
PM Modi also said that "Work from Anywhere" is a new normal in the post-COVID world and suggested creation of a virtual G20 secretariat as a follow up and documentation repository.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman opened the Group of 20 Summit as the coronavirus pandemic overshadowed this year' s gathering of heads of state that is being held in the virtual format. India is scheduled to host the G20 summit in 2022.
Moderna will charge governments between $25 and $37 per dose of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, depending on the amount ordered, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel told German weekly Welt am Sonntag (WamS).
"Our vaccine therefore costs about the same as a flu shot, which is between $10 and $50," he was quoted as saying.
On Monday, an EU official involved in the talks said the European Commission wanted to reach a deal with Moderna for the supply of millions of doses of its vaccine candidate for a price below $25 per dose.