Coronavirus LIVE: US Vice President Mike Pence gets vaccine in public event

The global tally of coronavirus cases stands at 75,223,151. While 52,805,160 have recovered, 1,666,988 have lost their lives

6:08 PM

2.8 mn high-risk people will be vaccinated for Covid in first 3 phases in J-K

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has draw an elaborate plan for Covid-19 vaccination programme and 28 lakh high-risk people will be inoculated in the first three phases across the union territory, officials said on Friday. "Approximately 1 lakh healthcare workers shall be covered in the first phase of Covid vaccination programme. In second phase, approximately 7 lakh frontline workers shall be covered, Financial Commissioner of Health and Medical Education Department Atal Dulloo said.

The third phase will cover 20 lakh beneficiaries of high-risk population, he added. Dulloo, who has been leading the health department's response to Covid situation in Jammu and Kashmir, said the vaccine shall be administered through CoWin dashboard platform. will help monitor the entire vaccination process. CoWin is a mobile app that will help monitor the entire vaccination process.

"Once introduced, the vaccination shall be done through pre-registration and no on-spot registration shall be allowed," Dulloo said. "Jammu and Kashmir has identified around 4,000 vaccination sites. There are more than 5,000 trained vaccinators and 19,000 potential vaccinators under the Covid vaccination programme," he said.

5:36 PM

Covid-19 is world war, has spread like wild fire due to lack of implementation of norms: SC

The Supreme Court Friday said that Covid-19 pandemic has spread like a wild fire in the country due to lack of implementation of guidelines and standard operating procedure (SoPs) issued to contain it. Terming it as a world war against Covid-19, the apex court said that due to the unprecedented pandemic everybody in the world is suffering one way or the other. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan said that any decision to impose curfew or lockdown must be announced long in advance so that people may know and make provisions for their livelihood.

The bench, also comprising Justices R S Reddy and M R Shah, said that frontline health care workers including doctors and nurses are already exhausted physically and mentally due to tireless work for eight months and some mechanism may be needed to give them intermittent rest. It said every state must act vigilantly and work with the Centre harmoniously in this pandemic time.

It is the time to rise to the occasion. Safety and health of the citizens must be the first priority, rather than any other considerations, the bench said. The top court passed a slew of directions for implementation of the Covid-19 guidelines and SOPs across the country.

5:34 PM

Registration of health workers for Covid vaccine in final stages in Kerala

The registration of health workers, enrolled for receiving Covid-19 vaccination, is in the final stages in Kerala, state Health Minister K K Shailaja has said. District-level registration of healthcare workers of all 4,064 institutions in the government sector and 81 per centof 4,557 private institutions in the state have been completed, she said. Employees of private institutions in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kannur districts have already completed registration, the minister said and urged the remaining healthcare personnel to complete the process at the earliest.

"In the first phase, the vaccine will be made available to all sections of government and private sector health workers and medical students," the minister said in a statement. The registration would comprise all those who are working in disciplines like modern medicine, AYUSH and homeopathy on permanent or temporary basis. Besides this, about 27,000 Accredited Social Health (ASHA) workers, over 33,000 anganwadi employees and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) staff were also part of the registry, she said.

5:01 PM

India to produce 300mn doses of Sputnik V vaccine in 2021: Report

India will produce about 300 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in 2021, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said in an interview with a TV channel. "In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. ...India will produce about 300 million doses or more of the vaccine for us next year," he was quoted as saying to Rossiya 24 TV channel by TASS news agency on Thursday.

RDIF is Russia's sovereign wealth fund. Dmitriev noted that out of 110 production sites that negotiated production of Sputnik V, RDIF chose 10 that meet its requirements. "The Russian Sputnik V will be actively produced in the world and we see that this is built on a safe platform based on the human adenovirus," Dmitriev said. Earlier Dmitriev said that production of Sputnik V began in other countries, in particular in India, Korea, Brazil, and China.

4:26 PM

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat tests positive for Covid-19

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has tested positive for coronavirus on Friday. In a tweet, Rawat said he went into home isolation after he tested positive for Covid-19. He has also urged people who might have come in contact with him to isolate themselves and get tested for virus.

"Today I had my corona test done and the report came back positive. My health is fine and I do not have any symptoms. Therefore, on the advice of doctors, I will be in home isolation. I request everyone, whoever has come in contact with me in the last few days, please isolate yourself and get yourself checked," Rawat said in a tweet (translated from Hindi).

 

4:12 PM

Study sheds light on immunity transfer from Covid-19 positive mothers to babies

Scientists have assessed pregnant patients admitted for Covid-19 and found antibodies against the novel coronavirus in umbilical cord blood, suggesting the possibility of transferred immunity from mothers to babies. The study, published in The Annals -- the official medical journal of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore -- periodically analysed samples from 16 pregnant patients admitted for Covid-19 to four tertiary hospitals in Singapore.

According to the research, there was no evidence of mother-to-child transmission of the coronavirus via breast milk or placenta. In the study, the scientists performed SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR tests on maternal blood and vaginal swabs, amniotic fluid and umbilical cord blood (UCB), and swabs of the placental and umbilical cord surfaces.

The researchers, including those from the Singapore General Hospital, noted that majority of the infected pregnant women had only mild disease and only two of them, who had risk factors like obesity and older age, had severe infection. None of the women died, the study noted.

3:41 PM

Karnataka govt restricts large gatherings for christmas, New Year's in Bengaluru

The Karnataka government has restricted large gatherings in public places for Christmas, and revelry on New Year Eve (NYE) from December 30 to January 2 to contain the coronavirus spread in this tech hub, an official said on Friday. "In accordance with the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Union Health Ministry, the state government has restricted crowding in public places like churches on the Christmas day and in pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants on NYE to prevent the virus spread," the official told IANS here.

In a mandatory order, state Chief Secretary T.M. Vijaya Bhaskar has enforced social-distancing and sanitisers for all church-goers, thermal screening and wearing of a mask in churches and places of worship. "Large gatherings are banned at clubs, pubs, bars and restaurants. No dance parties and DJ (Disc Jockey) events to prevent crowding," said the official. The state government has also banned handshakes and hugs to avoid the virus spread and directed organisers and stakeholders to maintain physical distancing at the gatherings.

"Congregations in churches and the places of worship should adhere to social-distancing and sanitisers should be used to maintain hygiene," said the order. The city police have also been directed to ensure the NYE revellers do not gather in large numbers in public places like M.G. Road and Brigade Road in the city's central business district from December 30 to January 2 to prevent the infection spreading.

3:18 PM

1,493 South African teachers died due to Covid-19

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic took a huge toll on South Africa's education system as 1,493 teachers succumbed to the disease this year, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshega said. In an announcement on Thursday, the Minister said the 2020 academic year was most challenging due to the disruption caused by the pandemic, reports Xinhua news agency. "At this point, I also want to acknowledge the fact that during those difficult times we lost almost 1,493 teachers. We lost a number of our workers. We lost a number of district officials, circuit officials," she told a briefing.

Despite this, the 2021 academic year would start on January 25 with teachers and pupils returning to the classroom on January 27. She said a three-year recovery plan would be implemented to deal with this year's disruptions. "The unintended learning losses occurred due to extended closure of schools. Remember some of the learners only came in September," Motshega said.

The department couldn't accommodate learners even after they had returned to the classroom. She said grade 12 students who completed their year-end examinations last week lost 47 schooling days this year. As of Friday, South Africa's overall Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 892,813 and 24,011, respectively.

3:08 PM

Philippines logs 2,122 new Covid-19 cases

The Department of Health (DOH) of the Philippines reported 2,122 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, bringing the total number in the country to 456,562. Friday's number of daily cases is the first time to hit the 2,000-mark again since November 29. The spike of cases came amid the government's warning of a surge during the holidays. The DOH said 778 more patients recovered, raising the total number of recoveries to 420,666. The death toll climbed to 8,875 after 25 more patients died from the viral disease, the DOH added.

The Philippine government said on Friday that foreign nationals with diplomatic and employment visas who travelled starting December 17 can now re-enter the country. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the inter-agency coronavirus task force approved on Thursday the re-entry of foreign nationals with valid and existing diplomatic and pre-arranged employment visas who flew out of the country starting December 17, 2020. Roque said the foreign nationals must have a valid and existing visa on the date of the arrival.

"They must have a pre-booked quarantine facility, and they must have pre-booked COVID-19 testing at a laboratory operating at the airport." The Department of Foreign Affairs suspended in March the issuance of visas on incoming foreign nationals of all nationalities to curb the coronavirus. The country is still under varying lockdown measures as it grapples with a steady increase of COVID-19 cases.

1:40 PM

New study strongly suggests Covid-19 enters brain

Researchers have now claimed that more and more evidence is coming out that people with Covid-19 are suffering from cognitive effects, such as brain fog and fatigue. The study, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, found that that the spike protein, often depicted as the red arms of the virus, can cross the blood-brain barrier in mice. This strongly suggests that SARS-CoV-2, the cause of Covid-19, can enter the brain.

 

"The spike protein, often called the S1 protein, dictates which cells the virus can enter. Usually, the virus does the same thing as its binding protein," said lead author William A Banks from the University of Washington in the US. Banks said binding proteins like S1 usually by themselves cause damage as they detach from the virus and cause inflammation.

 

"The S1 protein likely causes the brain to release cytokines and inflammatory products," he said. In science circles, the intense inflammation caused by the Covid-19 infection is called a cytokine storm.

1:30 PM

Odisha records 358 new COVID19 cases

Odisha recorded 358 new COVID19 cases, 376 recoveries and 4 deaths on December 16, as per State Health Department 

 

Total cases: 3,25,505

 

Total recoveries: 3,20,584

 

Active cases: 3,039

 

Death toll: 1,829

1:16 PM

Nigeria may have seen second wave of COVID-19 infections: official

The Nigerian government said Thursday that there is an indication the country has been hit by a second wave of COVID-19 infections following a recent spike in the number of infections. Speaking on behalf of Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation and chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Hadi Sirika, the minister of aviation, told a daily news conference that the latest development in the most populous African country could be "a potentially difficult phase of the COVID-19 resurgence."

1:05 PM

Italy's Covid-19 infection rate relatively improving

Italy's coronavirus infection rate continued its downward trend, but authorities have warned that another resurgence was "inexorable" with the upcoming holiday season around the corner. On Thursday, the country recorded 18,236 new cases, the 12th consecutive day with fewer than 20,000 infections -- a level surpassed in 39 days since October 25, including the all-time peak of 40,896 infections on November 13, reports Xinhua news agency. The new cases increased the overall infection tally to 1,906,377. On Thursday, the country also saw 27,913 recoveries over the past 24 hours, which outnumbered new infections by nearly 10,000, a near-record level.

12:52 PM

Telangana adds 551 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death takes toll to

Telangana reported 551 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to over 2.80 lakh while one fatality pushed the toll to 1,506, the state government said on Friday. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 111, followed by Rangareddy (48) and Medchal Malkajgiri (42), it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on December 17. As many as7,040 patients are under treatment and47,991 samples were tested on Thursday.

12:36 PM

Vaccination for COVID-19 will be voluntary: Health ministry

Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 will be voluntary, the Union Health Ministry has said while underlining that the vaccine introduced in India will be as effective as any vaccine developed by other countries. The ministry further stated that it was advisable to receive a complete schedule of the anti-coronavirus vaccine irrespective of past history of infection with COVID-19 as this will help in developing a strong immune response against the disease.