India's total COVID-19 active caseload dropped to 4,09,689 on Saturday, according to the Union health ministry.
The ministry said that the present active caseload comprises 4.26% of the total positive cases, and new recoveries have led to a net decline of 6,393 in the total active cases, the ministry said in a statement.
"India's total active caseload has dropped below 4.10 lakh (4,09,689) today. This is the lowest after 136 days. The total active cases were 4,11,133, on July 22," it said.
The ministry said that for the past eight days, the daily new recoveries recorded in the country have been more than the daily cases. The country now has a total of 96.45 lakh overall cases of the deadly disease which broke out in China's Wuhan in December last year.
Meanwhile, American pharma giant Pfizer has sought approval from the country's drug regulator - the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) - for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine, say sources. The vaccine is ready to be rolled out in the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
This is the first such request received by the DCGI amid the race to find a vaccine for the deadly virus, which has affected over 96 lakh people in India. The drug regulator may give emergency approval if it is satisfied by the results of the trials conducted outside India, sources have added.
In its application submitted on Friday, Pfizer India seeks permission to "import the vaccine for sale and distribution in the country, besides waiver of clinical trials on Indian population in accordance with the special provisions under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019," sources have been quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Here are the LIVE updates on India Coronavirus Cases:
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij this morning tweeted he did not ignore any protocol after testing positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Rebuffing a media report that he kept meeting people after testing positive for the highly infectious virus, he tweeted: "The report that I kept meeting people is totally wrong. Half and hour after testing positive, I was admitted to Ambala hospital."
"Half an hour after coming positive, I was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment," he tweeted this morning.
Mr Vij, on Saturday, had tweeted that he tested positive for the virus. The minister contracted the virus two weeks after receiving "the first dose" of the two-shot coronavirus vaccine by Bharat Biotech, the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm which has developed Covaxin, India's first indigienous vaccine for the highly infectious coronavirus. Read
A couple in Rajasthan's Shahbad district decided to go ahead for their wedding even after the bride tested positive for coronavirus on the wedding day, news agency ANI reported on Sunday.
As seen in the video tweeted by news agency ANI, the couple tied the nuptial knot wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) kits.
The first ODI between South Africa and England in Paarl, which was rescheduled to Sunday, has been suspended after two staff members at the hotel where the visitors were staying tested positive for coronavirus. The start of the match was initially delayed after the tests returned positive, but the match was then called off. Two members of England's touring party have also tested positive for coronavirus, although it is not known if the two are players or members of the support staff.
#WATCH Rajasthan: A couple gets married at Kelwara Covid Centre in Bara, Shahbad wearing PPE kits as bride's #COVID19 report came positive on the wedding day.
- ANI (@ANI) December 6, 2020
The marriage ceremony was conducted following the govt's Covid protocols. pic.twitter.com/6cSPrJzWjR
With India recording more recoveries than new COVID-19 cases for the last nine days, the active coronavirus caseload dropped to 4.03 lakh (4,03,248) on Sunday, the lowest in 138 days, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reported news agency ANI. "This is the lowest in 138 days. The total active cases were 4,02,529, on July 21, 2020," the Ministry said in a release. The country's present active caseload consists of just 4.18 per cent of the total positive cases.
Goa Director General of Police (DGP) Mukesh Kumar Meena has said that police will have a major role in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine, when it becomes available, reported news agency ANI.
Puducherry reported 35 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday, taking the tally to 37,244, while the death count remained at 614 as there were no fatalities. The day also saw 62 patients getting discharged from various hospitals after recovery.
Seventeen people tested positive for coronavirus in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the tally in the state to 16,384, a senior health department official said in Itanagar on Sunday, reported news agency PTI. Of the 17 fresh cases, six were reported from the Capital Complex region, three from Tawang and two from Upper Siang, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. One case each was recorded in West Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Tirap, Changlang, East Siang and Anjaw, he said. Fifteen infections were detected through rapid antigen tests while one each was diagnosed through RT-PCR and True NAT tests, the SSO said.
Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally mounted to 1,10,186 with 196 fresh cases, while one more fatality pushed the death count to 979, a health department official said on Sunday, reported news agency PTI. Ranchi district registered the maximum number of new infections at 80, followed by Bokaro (24), Dhanbad (24) and East Singhbhum (nine).
Telangana reported 622 fresh cases of COVID, taking the state's tally to over 2.73 lakh while two fatalities pushed the death count to 1,472, reported news agency PTI. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 104 infections, followed by Rangareddy 55 and Medchal Malkajgiri 51, a government bulletin said on Sunday providing details as of 8 pm, December 5.
At least 21 people, including two Border Security Force jawans, have tested positive for coronavirus in Mizoram, pushing the state's tally to 3,934, an official said on Sunday, reported news agency PTI. Among the fresh cases, a policeman, who was recently discharged from a COVID-19 Care Centre after testing negative, contracted the virus for the second time, he said.
India records 36,011 fresh coronavirus cases, 1.7% fewer than on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 96.4 lakh. 1.4 lakh fatalities have been reported so far.
An additional 207 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030 due to the severe long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total number of the world's extremely poor to over a billion, a new study from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has found, reported news agency PTI.
COVID-19 Testing Update. For more details visit: https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #CoronaUpdatesInIndia #COVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/OEIucQ9PHS
- ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) December 6, 2020
#IndiaFightsCorona#Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/BpD0dcpRqG
- Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 6, 2020

Pfizer becomes first pharma firm to seek approval in India for coronavirus vaccine, ready to be rolled out in UK: Sources
NCP leader Nawab Malik has said that COVID-19 vaccine should be given free to every citizen of the country. Speaking to ANI, Mr Malik said, "The Prime Minister held an all-party meeting and now they are saying State and Centre will decide the price, how can it be? In Bihar, they have given the assurance that vaccination will be free. We demand vaccine should be given to each Indian free of cost."