India's coronavirus count has touched 88.14 lakh with a jump of 41,100 cases in the last 24 hours, government data shows. 447 deaths in the last 24 hours have pushed the total Covid-related fatality count to 1,29,635. 82,05,728 people in the country have recovered since the outbreak in India in January. The country has been reporting a steady decline in its daily coronavirus infections after reaching a peak of about 90,000 cases a day in September. India has the world's second-highest coronavirus infection count after the US.
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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will meet Home Minister Amit Shah this week amid rise in coronavirus cases, sources have said. The Chief Minister is likely to discuss the need for more ICU beds at hospitals. Home Minister Amit Shah and Arvind Kejriwal have met at least twice in the last few months to discuss the coronavirus situation in the national capital.
Maharashtra, India's worst COVID-19-affected state, added 4,237 new cases, with the total number of infected people reaching 17,44,698.
Delhi's daily Covid chart had started its upward climb 12 days ago. In the 24 hours before November 3, the city had recorded a surge with 6,725 cases after a few weeks of low numbers.
Kerala reported 6,357 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the caseload to over 5.20 lakh as the deaths climbed to 1,848 with 26 more fatalities.
West Bengal on Saturday reported 3,823 fresh COVID-19 cases and 53 deaths, taking the infection count and deaths to 4,28,498 and 7,610 respectively, the health department said.
Temples and other places of worship will reopen in Maharashtra from Monday, the state government has said, listing coronavirus safety measures such as masks, sanitisers and temperature checks that they will have to follow.
From the development of indigenous vaccines to novel point-of-care diagnostics, India has initiated an integrated response to overcome the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, Union minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday.
Johnson & Johnson and the US Department of Health and Human Services have expanded an agreement to support the next phase of COVID-19 vaccine candidate research and development, the company said on Saturday.
India, the second worst-hit nation in the world and worst hit in Asia, could have 1 crore dozes of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by December, when an inoculation drive is also likely to begin.
More than 53 million have been infected worldwide by Covid-19, which is running rampant throughout America and Europe, forcing governments to take more drastic action despite the potential economic devastation.
