Coronavirus LIVE: Applying for emergency vaccine use soon, says Serum CEO

Coronavirus update: At 1,808,550, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 881,086, Andhra Pradesh 866,000, Tamil Nadu 777,616 and Kerala 587,578

Coronavirus update: On Friday, India reported 41,353 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 9,351,224. The country's death toll mounted to 136,238. At 1,808,550, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 881,086, Andhra Pradesh 866,000, Tamil Nadu 777,616 and Kerala 587,578. Delhi recorded 5,482 fresh Covid-19 cases in a day, while 98 more fatalities linked to the disease pushed the city's death toll to 8,909.
 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Zydus Biotech Park today to review coronavirus vaccine development work at facilities there. From there, PM Modi reached Hyderabad as part of his three-city tour to take stock of Covid-19 vaccine development. he lauded the scientists of Bharat Biotech for their vaccine progress with ICMR. 

World coronavirus update: The global tally of coronavirus cases stands at 61,958,809. While 42,772,849 have recovered, 1,448,231 have died so far. The US, the worst-hit country, has 13,450,712 cases, and 271,025 have died from the disease there. It is followed by India, which has 9,351,224 cases, Brazil (6,238,350), Russia (2,215,533), France (2,196,119).

Stay tuned for the latest coronavirus-related live news.

9:00 PM

Mumbai reports 1,063 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

8:47 PM

Himachal Pradesh govt decides to limit social gatherings to 50 people: official statement

8:34 PM

Karnataka reports 1,522 new Covid-19 cases, 12 deaths

8:31 PM

Puducherry reports 46 new Covid-19 cases, 41 discharges.

8:28 PM

Maharashtra reports 5,965 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

7:54 PM

In process to apply for emergency use authorisation of Covishield: Serum CEO

Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla said that they are process of applying for emergency use authorization of Covishield in the next two weeks. PM is extremely knowledgable now on vaccines & vaccine production. We were amazed at what he already knew.


He futher said that there was very little to explain to him, except for going into detail on different variable vaccines & the challenges that they may face ahead. As of now, we don't have anything in writing with the govt of India on how many doses they will purchase but the indication is that it would be 300-400 million doses by July, 2021.


"We have built the largest pandemic level facility in Pune & our new campus in Mandri. That was also showcased to the PM with a tour around the facility & a lot of detailed discussions. Vaccine will be distributed initially in India, then we will look at the COVAX countries which are mainly in Africa. The UK & European markets are being taken care of by AstraZeneca & Oxford. Our priority is India & COVAX countries", said Poonawalla to ANI.

Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute

7:45 PM

ICMR approves CSIR's Covid testing method

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has approved a simple and fast method for COVID-19 testing which can not only increase the number of RT-PCR tests but can also bring down costs, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) said on Saturday. The method -- Dry Swab-Direct RT-PCR -- developed by CSIR's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, is a variation of the existing gold standard RT-PCR method and can easily scale up the testing by 2 to 3 fold with no new investment of resources. "After evaluating this method and finding an overall concordance of 96.9 per cent, ICMR has now issued an advisory for the use of CSIR-CCMB dry swab method, considering its lesser cost and quick turn-around time," the CSIR said.

The CCMB has been testing samples for coronavirus since April. Having worked closely with healthcare workers of Telangana, it identified some of the key issues that slow the testing process. In response to it, the researchers developed the Dry Swab RNA-extraction free testing method for COVID-19. The Dry Swab-Direct RT-PCR method involves collecting and transporting the nasal swab in dry state, as opposed to using the viral transport medium VTM, which makes the transportation and handling of the samples easy and less prone to spillage and spread of infection. Secondly, the step of RNA isolation from the sample is omitted and involves only simple processing of the sample followed by direct RT-PCR using the kit recommended by the ICMR.

7:21 PM

Delhi reports 4,998 new Covid-19 cases, tally at 561,742

7:17 PM

Chandigarh reports 89 new Covid-19 cases, tally at 17,246

6:51 PM

Had good interaction at Serum Institute, they shared details on vaccine progress: Modi

6:30 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,430 Covid cases in a single-day

6:10 PM

6250 new Covid-19, 5275 recoveries and 25 deaths reported in Kerala

6250 new Covid-19, 5275 recoveries and 25 deaths reported in Kerala today. Number of active cases now at 64,834; so far 526,797 patients have recovered: State Government

6:03 PM

Over 50% Covid-19 beds unoccupied in Delhi: Satyender Jain

Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday said more than 50 percent of the beds reserved for coronavirus patients in Delhi are unoccupied. More than 1,200 ICU beds and around 9,500 normal ones are unoccupied at present. Overall, more than 50 percent beds are available. So, we are in a slightly better situation, he told reporters. The minister said there were some problems related to oxygen supply in Delhi on Friday which have been resolved. Delhi reported 5,482 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, while 98 more fatalities pushed the city's death toll to 8,909.

The positivity rate was 8.51 percent. It was 8.65 percent on Thursday and 8.49 percent on Wednesday. On Friday, Jain had said Delhi has sufficient infrastructure and equipment to vaccinate its entire population in a few weeks once a COVID-19 vaccine was available. There is no need to worry about storage of vaccines. We have a large number of health care facilities, such as mohalla clinics, poly clinics, and hospitals etc., where COVID-19 vaccine can be administered to people, he had said.

5:58 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 625 new coronavirus cases

5:46 PM

2,152 new coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh

2,152 new coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh, tally 540,000, active cases 25,243; toll 7,718 with 21 more deaths: health official