Coronavirus LIVE: Delhi records 4,067 new cases, positivity rate at 4.78%

Covid-19 update: At 1,842,587, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 889,113, Andhra Pradesh 870,076, Tamil Nadu 786,163, and Kerala 620,049

1:56 AM

Deve Gowda bats for free Covid vaccine to the poor

Lauding the Union government's efforts to get the Covid vaccine rolled out early, former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda on Friday said the vaccine should be given for free to the poor and at affordable rates to the majority of the people. "The Covid vaccine should be given for free to the poor, who are economically weak and its cost should be made affordable for the majority of the people across the country," Deve Gowda said in a statement.

Gowda, 87, who also participated in the all-party meeting vaccine distribution held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day through video conference, said the Central government should bear the cost of the vaccination programme across the country. "I am glad to know that the Prime Minister had recently reviewed the advances made by some drug firms in getting the Covid vaccine ready soon. The stock-taking was essential to give hope and confidence to the people who have been trapped for months by the pandemic," asserted Gowda.

1:47 AM

Centre promised 10 mn Covid vaccines in phase one: AP CM

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday said the Central government has promised 1 crore coronavirus vaccine shots to the state in the first phase. Reddy told the Assembly about the Centre's promise during a discussion on the pandemic on the last day of the winter session. He said the state will provide the vaccine to frontline staff numbering about 7 lakh in the first phase, followed by 3.6 lakh healthcare workers and 90 lakh senior citizens.

The state is framing guidelines with regard to distribution of vaccines and developing storage and transport facilities. "Cold chain storage units are needed to store the vaccine between 2 - 8 degrees centigrade. So far, 4,065 units were set up, in addition to 29 refrigerated vehicles to transport the vaccine. Since the vaccination has to be done by professionals, 19,000 ANMs will be roped in and even Asha workers will be trained for additional support," said Reddy.

The Chief Minister said the state government has constituted taskforce committees at village, mandal and district levels to coordinate the effective implementation.

1:43 AM

LIVE: Moderna Inc will be able to produce 500 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine in 2021, reports Reuters quoting Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Bancel

1:41 AM

Jharkhand reported 219 Covid-19 cases, 206 recoveries

11:47 PM

Assam reports 169 new cases, total at 213,505

11:26 PM

Delhi records 4,067 new Covid-19 cases; positivity rate now 4.78%

Delhi registered 4,067 new COVID-19 cases on Friday with over 85,000 tests being conducted in a day, even as the positivity rate dipped to 4.78 per cent, authorities said. These fresh cases came out of a record 85,003 tests conducted the previous day, including 40,191 RT-PCR tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department. The COVID-19 positivity rate had slumped was 4.96 per cent on Thursday.

Seventy-three fatalities were recorded on Friday, pushing the toll in the national capital to 9,497. The active cases tally has dropped to 28,252 from 29,120 the previous day. The bulletin said the total number of cases has climbed to 5,86,125, while the recovery rate was over 93 per cent. The number of containment zones in Delhi jumped to 5,909 on Friday from 5,759 on Thursday. The highest single-day spike till date -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11.

Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said if the COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital stays below four per cent for five consecutive days, it would mean that the city has successfully fought the pandemic. The recent spike in cases had come during the festive season and amid rising pollution levels.

11:14 PM

Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan test positive for Covid-19

Veteran star Neetu Kapoor and actor Varun Dhawan on Friday tested positive for coronavirus in Chandigarh. The two Bollywood actors, along with Anil Kapoor and Kiara Advani, were shooting for their upcoming movie "Jug Jugg Jeeyo" in the city. According to a source close to the family, Neetu, 62, is now flying back to Mumbai after her actor-son Ranbir Kapoor made necessary arrangements.

"She tested positive for COVID-19 today. So, Ranbir organised the air ambulance for her, to get her back. If she's here, she will get proper hospitalisation and isolation otherwise she was alone in Chandigarh," the source said. Dhawan and the film's director Raj Mehta, who has also contracted the novel virus, have decided to quarantine in Chandigarh. "Varun and even the director have tested positive, though both of them have decided to stay there," the source added.

10:57 PM

Bahrain approves Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine

Bahrain said on Friday it has granted emergency use authorisation for the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the second country after Britain to approve it. The Gulf Arab state had also approved Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine in November for use by frontline workers.

"The approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will add a further important layer to the Kingdom's national COVID-19 response," Dr. Mariam Al Jalahma, CEO of Bahrain's National Health Regulatory Authority said in a statement.

 

10:41 PM

Austria begins mass testing for Covid-19 in Vienna

Mass testing of the population for coronavirus began in Vienna on Friday, a Sputnik correspondent reported. In November, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced the launch of a mass coronavirus disease testing program in December. Austrian authorities said they decided on this measure to "save" Christmas. The mass testing of population is free of charge, on a voluntary basis and on different dates. The tests are mandatory only for those in the risk groups, including teachers and police officers.

The mass testing in Vienna will last until December 13. Those who get positive results will be put on a 10-day quarantine, allowing those who tested positive to complete self-isolation before Christmas Eve. Anyone with a residence in Vienna - both permanent and temporary - can take part in the testing while all residents must register online to participate. The Austrian government introduced tougher stay-at-home measures -- the second lockdown since the outbreak in March -- from November 17 until December 6.

 

10:38 PM

5,718 new Covid cases, 29 deaths in Kerala

Kerala on Friday recorded 5,718 new Covid cases out of 57,456 samples sent for testing in the past 24 hours, state Health Minister K.K. Shailaja said. In a statement issued here, Shailaja said the day saw 5,496 people being cured taking the total cured in the state to 5,61,874, while there were 61,401 active cases.

Another 29 deaths were reported, taking the total death tally to 2,358. Across the state, 3,14,029 people were under observation at various places, including 15,100 people at hospitals while there were 444 hotspots.

10:14 PM

With 803 new cases, total number of Covid-19 cases in Himachal rises to 43,500

9:31 PM

UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar records 75 new Covid-19 cases

UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar records 75 new Covid-19 cases, pushing tally to 23,170, patients' recovery rate in district reaches 95.12 per cent and mortality rate stays at 0.35 per cent: Official data

9:28 PM

West Bengal reports 3,206 new Covid-19 cases, 3,215 recoveries

9:00 PM

India biggest buyer of Covid-19 vaccine with 1.6 bn doses, can cover 60% population

India is the largest buyer of COVID-19 vaccines in the world with 1.6 billion doses, according to a global analysis, a number some scientists say couldcover 800 million people, or 60 per cent of its population, and will be enough to develop herd immunity'.

 

India has purchased 500 million doses of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, one billion from the US company Novavax and 100 million doses of the Sputnik V candidatefrom Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute, according to the US-based Duke University Global Health Innovation Center.

 

The Launch and Scale Speedometer' analysis, which is updated every two weeks, shows India has confirmed 1.6 billion doses of three vaccines as of November 30 while the US and the EU have purchased doses of six candidates.

 

According to the analysis, India is the top COVID-19 vaccine buyer followed by the European Union which has confirmed 1.58 billion doses and the US, the worst affected country so far, that has managed to purchase just over a billion doses.

 

8:41 PM

618 more test coronavirus positive in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand's COVID-19 tally rose to 76,893 on Friday with the detection of 618 fresh cases, while 10 more deaths due to the disease pushed the toll to 1,273, according to a state health department bulletin.

 

Dehradundistrict reported a maximum of 239 new cases, Nainital 93, Haridwar 48, Chamoli 40, Almora 39, Pauri 34, Pithoragarh 33, Udham Singh Nagar 21, Tehri 20, Uttarkashi 18, Bageshwar 13, Rudraprayag 13 and Champawat 7, the bulletin said.

 

A total of 69,831 COVID-19 patients have recuperated in Uttarakhand, 795 migrated out of the state and 4,994 are under treatment, according to the bulletin.