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This Article is From Jan 01, 2021

Coronavirus Highlights: 21,822 Fresh COVID-19 Cases In India

COVID-19 Highlights: India's tally has surged to 1,02,66,674; 1.48 lakh deaths linked to the disease have been recorded so far.

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India News Edited by Nonika Marwaha

Updated : January 01, 2021 5:56 am IST

Coronavirus Cases in India: The recovery rate is 96.04 per cent.

New Delhi:

Amid global fears over the new mutant strains of coronavirus, detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, India recorded 21,822 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, 6 per cent higher than yesterday.

India's tally has surged to 1,02,66,674; 1.48 lakh deaths linked to the disease have been recorded so far. A consortium of 10 government labs has started genome sequencing of new Sars-CoV-2 variant believed to be significantly more infectious.

Applications for the emergency use approval for the coronavirus vaccines filed by the Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer were taken up for consideration by a government-appointed panel of experts on Wednesday.

Serum Institute which is making the vaccine 'Covishield' developed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech which has partnered the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for its 'Covaxin' made presentations before the panel. Pfizer has sought more time to present their data.

The analysis of the data is ongoing and the panel will meet again on Friday, a government statement said.

Once the vaccines are cleared by the expert panel, the applications will move to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval. The government wants to start administering the shots starting next month.

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Here are the LIVE updates on Coronavirus Cases:

Jan 01, 2021 05:13 (IST)

France Detects First Case Of South African Coronavirus Variant

France has detected its first case of the South African variant of coronavirus, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The 501.V2 Variant was detected by South African authorities in mid December.

Cases have since been found in Japan and Britain among others.

The variant, believed to be more easily transmitted like another version found in Britain, was discovered in France in a man who had returned from South Africa to his home in the Haut-Rhin region which borders Switzerland.

Jan 01, 2021 03:26 (IST)

COVID-19: 574 Fresh Cases, 13 Deaths Reported In Delhi; Positivity Rate 0.7 Per Cent

Delhi recorded 574 fresh COVID-19 cases and 13 new fatalities on Thursday, even as the positivity rate slipped to 0.7 per cent, authorities said.

The infection tally in the city mounted to over 6.25 lakh and the death toll rose to 10,536, they said, adding over 81,000 tests were conducted on the previous day.

From December 21-23, the daily case count had been below the 1000-mark. On December 21, 803 cases were reported; 939 on December 22 and 871 on December 23.

However, on December 24, 1,063 cases were recorded, dropping again to 758 on December 25 and 655 on December 26. On December 27, 757 cases were recorded while on December 28, the daily case count was 564, the lowest in the last five months.

On December 29 and 30, the city recorded 703 and 677 cases respectively.

The fresh 574 cases came out the 81,750 tests conducted on the previous day, including 43,780 RT-PCR tests and 37,970 rapid antigen tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

Jan 01, 2021 02:29 (IST)

WHO Grants "Emergency Validation" To Pfizer Covid Vaccine

The World Health Organization on Thursday granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve its import and distribution.

The decision "makes the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine the first to receive emergency validation from WHO since the (novel coronavirus) outbreak began a year ago," WHO said in a statement.

Jan 01, 2021 01:20 (IST)

US expects to approve UK-backed AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine in April

The United States is expected to approve the low-cost AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in April, a senior official said, more than three months after Britain's green light on Wednesday.

Moncef Slaoui, the chief advisor to Operation Warp Speed, the military-led US effort for vaccines, told reporters that US trials and assessments would be complete for approval "sometime in early April."

"Several tens of millions of doses will have been manufactured... and therefore will be available for use if the data supports its approval," he said.

He did not allege that Britain rushed its decision and praised Britain's MHRA regulatory agency as "science-based."

"Therefore I am not raising any question as to the decision that they have made," he said.

"Having said that, the requirements of the decision process as we have built it here in the US is what I can really comment on."

Slaoui also voiced hope for approval in the first half of February of the Janssen vaccine by Johnson & Johnson, which in contrast to the initially approved vaccines comes in a single dose.

Jan 01, 2021 00:15 (IST)

Maharashtra reports 3,509 new COVID-19 cases, 3,612 discharges, and 58 deaths on Thursday, as per State Health Department

Total cases: 19,32,112

Total recoveries: 18,28,546

Total active cases: 52,902

Total Deaths: 49,521

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Dec 31, 2020 21:34 (IST)

Nagpur records 393 new COVID-19 cases

As many as 393 persons tested positive for coronavirus in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Thursday, raising the count of infections to 1,23,767, a district official said.

Apart from this, the district also recorded eight casualties that took the toll to 3,930, the official said.

The count of recoveries in the region reached 1,16,055, after 335 patients were discharged from various hospitals during the day, he said. The district is now left with 3,782 active cases, the official said. At least 4,966 swab samples were tested during the day, taking the number of tests conducted so far to 9,30,182, he added.

Dec 31, 2020 21:09 (IST)

China Gives Its First Coronavirus Vaccine Approval To Sinopharm

China approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use on Thursday, a shot developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, as it braces for greater transmission risks over the winter.

Dec 31, 2020 20:48 (IST)

Gujarat registers 780 COVID-19 cases, 916 recoveries; 4 die

Gujarat recorded 780 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking its count to 2,45,038, while four more patients died due to the infection, the state Health Department said.

With the addition of 780 new cases, Gujarat's COVID-19 tally reached 2,45,038, while the deaths have increased to 4,306, said a release by the department. Also, 916 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recovered cases to 2,30,893, it said.

Dec 31, 2020 20:37 (IST)

Coronavirus News Updates: 971 people test positive for infection, 12 die in UP, says Official

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday reported 971 new cases of coronavirus infection, taking the contamination tally to 5,85,902 even as 12 people died of Covid-19 raising the death toll due to the disease to 8,364.

The number of active cases stood at 14,260 in the state with 6,337 recuperating in home isolation and 1,275 getting treatment in private hospitals, Additional Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan Prasad said.

A total of 5,63,278 people have recovered and have been discharged from hospitals till now, he said, putting the recovery rate at 96.13 per cent.

The fatality rate due to the contagion in the state is 1.43 per cent at present, he said.

On Wednesday, over 1.49 lakh samples were tested taking the total tests done so far to over 2.39 crores.

Dec 31, 2020 20:00 (IST)

China reports first case of new coronavirus variant

China has detected its first imported case of the new coronavirus variant that is spreading rapidly around Britain, according to a publication run by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Countries around the world have cut off travel links to Britain to stop the spread of the new variant, which scientists have said is 40-70% more transmissible than the original virus.

The variant was detected in a 23-year-old female student returning to China from Britain, who was tested in Shanghai on Dec 14, according to the latest edition of China CDC Weekly published on Wednesday

Dec 31, 2020 19:31 (IST)

Dec 31, 2020 19:24 (IST)

304 more test positive for COVID-9 in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand's Covid tally rose to 90,920 on Thursday as 304 more people tested positive for infection while five died of the disease.

Nainital district reported the highest number of 108 cases, Dehradun 99, Udham Singh Nagar 25, Haridwar 18, Almora 12, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh nine each, Pauri seven, Champawat and Bageshwar six each, Chamoli three and Rudraprayag and Tehri one each, a state Health Department bulletin said.

Five more Covid patients died in the state taking the deaths so far to 1509, the bulletin said.

A total of 83,506 infected people have recuperated, 1,186 have migrated out of the state and 4,719 are under treatment, it said.

Dec 31, 2020 18:57 (IST)

Coronavirus News: 32 UK returnees test positive in Kerala; Over 5000 new COVID cases

As many as 32 people, who recently returned from the UK, have tested positivefor COVID-19 in Kerala, while the state recorded 5,215 fresh infections and 30 more fatalities on Thursday.

The samples of the infected people have been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, for further testing to ascertain if it is the new variant, Health Minister KK Shailaja said in a press release. While the total caseload climbed to 7,60,932, recoveries touched 6,92,480 and 65,202 people are undergoing treatment for the virus.

Dec 31, 2020 18:32 (IST)

Schools to reopen partially in Kerala from January 1

Schools in Kerala, remained closed since the imposition of coronavirus lockdown in March, will reopen partially on January 1, marking a new beginning in the education sector, but strictly in compliance with COVID protocols.

The Classes for 10th and 12th standards would begin with limited hours and restricted number of students, official sources here said on Thursday.

State Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Thursday that the academic year, which comes at a time of COVID pandemic, should be dealt with confidence but caution.

"Students should not be afraid to go to schools. The government has made all arrangements," she said, urging everyone to strictlyfollow the guidelines issued by the health and the educations departments.

Dec 31, 2020 18:02 (IST)

South Koreans working with US forces become first to receive COVID-19 vaccination

South Koreans working at US military bases in the country have become the first citizens to be inoculated against the coronavirus, media reported on Thursday.

According to state news agency Yonhap, the US Forces Korea (USFK) confirmed that Korean health care workers and soldiers part of the Korean Augmentation to the US Army (KATUSA) were among those to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech shots.

"USFK confirms that we started inoculating Korean National health care workers and KATUSA today," the command said in a statement.

South Korea's vaccination campaign is not scheduled to begin until February, the agency reported.

Dec 31, 2020 17:36 (IST)

Canada To Require Negative COVID-19 Test For People Entering Country
Canada will require travellers to obtain a negative Covid-19 test before being allowed into the country, the government announced Wednesday." itemprop="description

Dec 31, 2020 17:00 (IST)

South Korea moves coronavirus patients out of nursing homes to hospitals as deaths mount

Dozens of elderly South Korean coronavirus patients were transferred from nursing homes to hospitals this week after criticism that government policy had led to a spike in deaths among the vulnerable residents.

South Korea's total tally of infections passed 60,000 on Thursday, as 967 additional cases were reported.

At least 486 of South Korea's 900 reported deaths were people over the age of 80.

Only 40 deaths have been reported among people younger than 60.

At least 316 residents of nursing hospitals or nursing homes have died, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Thursday.

Dec 31, 2020 16:48 (IST)

Tokyo tops 1,300 daily virus cases; warns of possible new emergency

Tokyo reported over 1,300 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, a daily record, as officials warned that a state of emergency might be needed to tackle spiking cases.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held emergency talks with ministers late Thursday but did not immediately outline plans for any new measures.

"The trend is clearly increasing. I regard this as very serious," Suga told reporters, as he urged people to wear masks, wash their hands, and avoid crowds and non-urgent outings.

"I again instructed the ministers to make sure that we will use this holiday to secure an adequate system to provide medical care by coordinating efforts with local governments," he said.

Dec 31, 2020 16:34 (IST)

Probably we will have a very happy New Year: Drug Controller General of India on COVID-19 vaccine

India is likely to have a COVID-19 vaccine in the New Year, Drug Controller General of India V G Somani hinted on Thursday. Speaking at a webinar, Mr Somani said the most important thing is that the industry and research organisations have stood the test of time.

He said vaccine candidates have got the funding and also talked about the efforts made by the Department of Biotechnology. "...and probably we will have a very happy New Year with something in hand. That's what I can hint at," Mr Somnai said.

The Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer have applied to the DCGI seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccine candidates and are awaiting approval.

Dec 31, 2020 16:06 (IST)

COVID-19: Night curfew in Odisha on December 31

The Odisha government has imposed a night curfew from 10 pm on Thursday to avoid large gatherings during the New Year celebrations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an official said.

The restriction will remain in place till 5 am on Friday, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Jena said.

Taking to Twitter, the SRC said, "Govt (Government) of Odisha imposing night curfew from 10 pm of tonight to 5 am tomorrow across the state. General public requested to cooperate. All essential services & movements are allowed to continue during the curfew hours."

He urged people to follow the COVID-19 protocols even though the state has witnessed a declining trend of fresh coronavirus cases.

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