Coronavirus LIVE: India's tally hits 8.8 mn, Shah reviews Delhi situation

Coronavirus LIVE: updates: Maharashtra has 1,740,461 coronavirus cases, Karnataka 857,928, Andhra Pradesh 851,000, Tamil Nadu 752,521 and UP has 514,060

10:03 AM

Andaman & Nicobar Islands Covid-19 tally rises to 4,527

Nine more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, pushing the union territory's tally to 4,527, a health department official said on Sunday. Of the nine new cases, five have travel history, while four were detected during contact tracing.

 

Eleven more people recovered from the disease taking the total number of COVID-19 recoveries in the union territory of 4,315. The archipelago now has 151 active COVID-19 cases, while 61 people have died of the infection so far, he said.

9:57 AM

Coronavirus pandemic LIVE: 16,077 new Covid-19 cases and 116 new deaths in Germany

9:46 AM

Sports car racer Jim Pace dies from Covid-19 at age 59

Jim Pace, the overall winner of the 1996 24 Hours of Daytona, has died after contracting COVID-19. He was 59. Pace's family said he died Friday in Memphis.

 

"Racer, teacher, and loyal friend," IMSA President John Doonan said. "These are three simple words to describe Jim Pace. All of us at IMSA are devastated by losing such a great champion."

 

Born in in 1961 in Monticello, Mississippi, Pace began his racing career in the Barber Saab Pro Series in 1988. He soon moved to sports car racing and won the GTU class at the 1990 24 Hours of Daytona.

9:40 AM

Delhi's Covid-19 tally reaches 4.82 lakh with 7,340 new cases, death toll rises to 7,519

Delhi recorded 7,340 COVID-19 cases in a day taking the infection tally to over 4.82 lakh on Saturday, while 96 more fatalities during the same period pushed the death toll in the city to 7,519. These fresh cases were detected from 49,645 tests, including 19,635 RT-PCR ones and 30,010 by rapid antigen tests, conducted the previous day. The positivity rate in the city was 14.78 per cent amid festivities and rising pollution, according to a bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

 

The highest single-day spike of 8,593 cases was recorded on Wednesday and 85 fatalities were recorded that day. On November 12, the number of fatalities was 104, the highest in over five months.

 

On Saturday, 96 more fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll in the national capital to 7,519, the bulletin said. The tally of active cases in the national capital on Saturday rose to 44,456 from 44,329 the previous day. According to the bulletin, the total number of cases has reached 4,82,170, while recovery rate stood at over 89 per cent.

9:30 AM

Italy adds two more regions to Covid-19 'red zones'

Italy has added two more regions to its coronavirus high-risk "red zones" as the daily case count has surged again. The two regions, Tuscany and Campania, will join the other four and one autonomous province to be put under strict restrictions, starting from Sunday.

 

Earlier this month, the Italian government had introduced a three-tier system and split the country into three zones: red for the highest risk, orange for medium risk, and yellow for low risk.

 

"We are asking people for further sacrifices," Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

9:22 AM

Coronavirus pandemic LIVE: 29,463 new Covid-19 cases and 727 new deaths in Brazil

9:13 AM

Global Covid-19 cases top 53.8 million: Johns Hopkins University

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 53.8 million, while the deaths have surged to 1,309,780, according to the Johns Hopkins University. As of Sunday morning, the total caseload and death toll stood at 53,843,270 and 1,309,784, respectively, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update.

 

The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 10,888,372 and 245,574, respectively, according to the CSSE.

 

India comes in second place in terms of cases at 8,773,479, while the country's death toll soared to 129,188. The other countries with more than a million confirmed cases are Brazil (5,848,959), France (1,915,713), Russia (1,887,836), Spain (1,458,591), the UK (1,347,907), Argentina (1,304,846), Colombia (1,191,634) and Italy (1,144,552), the CSSE figures showed.

9:03 AM

Continuous decline in average of daily new Covid-19 cases: Health Ministry

8:57 AM

Coronavirus latest update: Karnataka reports 2,154 new Covid-19 cases

Karnataka reported 2,154 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday taking the total count of cases in the state to 8,60,082.

 

"There have been a total of 2,198 discharges, and 17 deaths today. Total cases in the state have risen to 8,60,082, including 8,20,590 discharges and 11,508 deaths. Active cases stand at 27,965," Karnataka government informed in a release.

 

With 44,684 new COVID-19 infections reported in the last 24 hours, India's total cases went up to 87,73,479 on Saturday.

8:53 AM

Russia coronavirus update: Single-day high of 22,702 Covid cases reported

Russia has confirmed a record number of 22,702 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total to 19,03,253, the country's Covid-19 response centre said in a statement Saturday. Meanwhile, 391 new deaths were reported, taking the nationwide count to 32,834, the Xinhua news agency reported.

 

Moscow, the country's worst-hit region, reported 6,427 new cases, taking its tally of infections to 503,943, the response centre said. According to the statement, 1,425,529 people have recovered, including 18,626 over the past day. So far, over 67.9 million tests have been conducted across the country. READ ON...

8:45 AM

United Kingdom coronavirus update: Another 26,860 Covid cases, 462 deaths

Another 26,860 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 13,44,356, according to official figures released on Saturday. The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 462 to 51,766, the data showed.

 

Britain is the first European nation to record more than 50,000 coronavirus deaths. It is the fifth country in the world to hit the tragic milestone, following the US, Brazil, India and Mexico.

 

Earlier Saturday, a British government scientific adviser warned that the next fortnight will be "absolutely crucial" to ensure an end to England's month-long lockdown on December 2 as planned. READ ON...

8:36 AM

Tamil Nadu reports 1,912 new coronavirus cases; 2,494 recoveries

Tamil Nadu on Saturday recorded 1,912 new coronavirus cases and 12 deaths, pushing the cumulative tally of infections to over 7.56 lakh and total fatalities to 11,466. The active cases stood at 17,154, even as discharges outnumbered new cases. A total of 2,494 persons were cured of the infection today, according to a government bulletin. With the addition of the fresh infections, the caseload has gone up to 7,56,372 while recoveries stood at 7,27,752.

 

The government attributed the declining trend in new cases to a combination of RT-PCR tests and its "searching and isolation policy."

 

Chennai reported 509 fresh cases, followed by Coimbatore at 182 and Chengalpattu which saw 139 new additions. The rest of the cases were spread across other districts, with most of them witnessing double-digit additions. Perambalur recorded three new patients.

8:33 AM

Coronavirus pandemic LIVE: 156,785 new cases and 1,258 new deaths in the United States

8:20 AM

People across India celebrate Diwali despite coronavirus scare

8:16 AM

Mexico reaches 1 million Covid-19 cases, nears 100,000 deaths

Mexico has registered more than 1 million total coronavirus cases and nearly 100,000 test-confirmed deaths, though officials agree the number is probably much higher. Health Director General Ricardo Corts Alcal said late Saturday the number of confirmed cases had reached 1,003,253, with at least 98,259 deaths from COVID-19.

 

How did Mexico get here? By marching resolutely, even defiantly, against many internationally accepted practices in pandemic management, from face mask wearing, to lockdowns, testing and contact tracing.

 

What is more, officials in Mexico claim science is on their side. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lpez-Gatell says any wider testing would be a waste of time, effort and money. Face masks, Lpez-Gatell says, are an auxiliary measure to prevent spreading the virus. They do not protect us, but they are useful for protecting other people.