Coronavirus LIVE: Around 150 Army personnel test positive for Covid-19

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: The union government is planning a dry run for administering the Covid-19 vaccine in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Punjab next week as a prep before the inoculation

10:43 AM

India's daily deaths below 300 after over 6 months

India's daily new Covid-19 fatality count was reported below 300 after over six months, taking the death toll to 147,343, while the infection tally rose to 10,169,118, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.

 

A total of 251 more deaths and 22,273 new infections were reported in a 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 am showed.

 

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 9,740,108, pushing the national recovery rate to95.78 per cent, while the COVID-19casefatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.

10:38 AM

Africa's Covid-19 caseload nears 2.6 million

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the African continent has reached 2,597,090, according to health authorities.

 

In its latest update on Friday, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) said the death toll stood at 61,432, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

A total of 2,177,981 people infected with Covid-19 have so far recovered across the continent

 

The most affected African countries in terms of the number of positive cases include South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia, the Africa CDC update revealed.

10:23 AM

India's active caseload at 281,667

India's active Covid-19 cases in stand at 281,667, while 9,740,108 people have recovered from the disease so far, according to the union health ministry.

9:54 AM

India reports 22,272 new infections in last 24 hours

9:53 AM

Telangana adds 317 new cases

Telangana reported 317 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to over 2.84 lakh while two fatalities pushed the toll to 1,529, the state government said on Saturday.

 

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 71, followed by Rangareddy (27) and Medchal Malkajgiri (25), it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on December 25.

 

Over 2.76 lakh people have recovered from the disease so far.

9:44 AM

Coronavirus claimed Maharashtra 312 cops, infected 28,500

A poignant video which went viral in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic summed up the year for the police force in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

 

It showed a child pleading with his policeman father, who is leaving house for duty, to stay at home because "there is corona out there".

 

As the police faced an unenviable task of keeping people off the streets during lockdown, the virus took a heavy toll on them - 312 police personneldied and around 28,500 were infected across the state.

 

The Mumbai police also found themselves caught in the crossfire in the political slugfest over actor Sushant Singh Rajputs suicide.

9:35 AM

Hong Kong extends Covid-19 quarantine for overseas arrivals

Visitors who have been to places outside China in the past three weeks will be put in compulsory quarantine at designated hotels for 21 days upon arrival in Hong Kong, instead of 14 days as previously required.

 

In a statement on Friday, the city government said that those who have stayed in South Africa for more than two hours within 21 days will be banned from boarding flights to Hong Kong, Xinhua news agency reported.

 

The government also said those who arrived in Hong Kong during December 2-24 and have stayed in places outside China will have to take a test on Day 19 or 20 after arrival and remain in quarantine before test result comes out.

9:30 AM

India Covid testing update

Total number of samples tested up to 25th December is 16,71,59,289 including 8,53,527 samples tested  yesterday, according to ICMR

8:56 AM

UK returnee tests Covid positive in Assam, sample sent to Pune

In the past two weeks, around 102 people have come to Assam from the United Kingdom and one of them was found Covid-19 positive and his sample has been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune to ascertain whether it is the same new virus strain which hit Europe recently, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.

 

"Out of the 102 returnees from the UK, 72 were from Kamrup Metro district (under which Assam capital Dispur and Guwahati fall). We sent the sample of one person to the National Institute of Virology in Pune to ascertain the strain of Covid-19," Sarma told the media.

 

He said that as a prelude to the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine across the country, the Union Health Ministry has planned to conduct a dry run in select places, including Assam.

8:47 AM

The risk of leaving behind developing economies

The end of the pandemic is finally in view. So is rescue from the most traumatic global economic catastrophe since the Great Depression. As Covid vaccines enter the bloodstream, recovery has become reality.

 

But the benefits will be far from equally apportioned. Wealthy nations in Europe and North America have secured the bulk of limited stocks of vaccines, positioning themselves for starkly improved economic fortunes. Developing countries — home to most of humanity — are left to secure their own doses.

 

 

The lopsided distribution of vaccines appears certain to worsen a defining economic reality: The world that emerges from this terrifying chapter in history will be more unequal than ever. Poor countries will continue to be ravaged by the pandemic, forcing them to expend meager resources that are already stretched by growing debts to lenders in the United States, Europe and China. Read here

8:35 AM

Global coronavirus update

Global coronavirus cases top 80 million; deaths stand at 1,757,639, according to worldometer.

8:32 AM

Global Covid-19 cases top 79.8 million: Johns Hopkins

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 79.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.74 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 79,802,494 and 1,749,995, respectively.

 

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 18,756,230 and 330,244, respectively, according to the CSSE.

8:01 AM

Mexico records 9,679 new cases

Mexico’s Health Ministry on Friday reported 9,679 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 665 additional fatalities, bringing the total in the country to 1,372,243 cases and 121,837 deaths.

 

The government has said the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

7:52 AM

China reports 20 new Covid cases

Mainland China recorded 20 new Covid-19 cases on Dec. 25, up from 14 cases the previous day, the country’s health authority said on Saturday.

 

The National Health Commission said in its daily bulletin that 12 of the new cases were imported. Of the eight locally transmitted cases, six came from the northeastern province of Liaoning and two from the capital Beijing.

 

Additionally, 19 asymptomatic cases were reported on Dec. 25, up from 17 the previous day. China does not include asymptomatic patients in its total confirmed case list.

7:50 AM

South Korea sleepwalks into virus crisis

South Korea had seemed to be winning the fight against the coronavirus: Quickly ramping up its testing, contact-tracing and quarantine efforts paid off when it weathered an early outbreak without the economic pain of a lockdown. But a deadly resurgence has reached new heights during Christmas week, prompting soul-searching on how the nation sleepwalked into a crisis.

 

The 1,241 infections on Christmas Day were the largest daily increase. Another 1,132 cases were reported Saturday, bringing South Korea's caseload to 55,902.

 

Over 15,000 were added in the last 15 days alone. An additional 221 fatalities over the same period, the deadliest stretch, took the death toll to 793.