Coronavirus LIVE updates: India cases at 8,728,795; active cases at 484,547

Coronavirus update: Maharashtra has 1,736,329 coronavirus cases, Karnataka 855,912, Andhra Pradesh 849,705, Tamil Nadu 752,521 and Kerala 508,256. Stay tuned for coronavirus India LIVE updates

7:57 AM

Maharashtra coronavirus update: Pune records 622 more Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 330,112

Pune district reported 622 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 3,30,112 on Thursday, a health official said.

 

With 19 fresh fatalities, the death toll in the western Maharashtra district rose to 8,141, he added.

 

Also, 360 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, the official said. Read on...

7:49 AM

Odisha reports 986 new coronavirus cases, 14 additional fatalities

Odisha's Covid-19 tally Thursday rose to 3,05,986 with 986 more people testing positive for the infection, while 14 fresh fatalities pushed the toll in the coastal state to 1,483, a health department official said.

 

During the day the state registered recovery of 1,264 patients taking the total number of persons cured of the contagion to 2,93,741, which is 95.99 per cent of the caseload.

 

Odishas case fatality ratio stands at 0.48 per cent. Read on...

7:46 AM

Covid-19 overhauls decades of aviation boom, a third of 50,000 routes shut

Before the coronavirus, a decades-long aviation boom spawned a network of nearly 50,000 air routes that traversed the world. In less than a year, the pandemic has wiped almost a third of them off the map.

 

Border closures, nationwide lockdowns and the fear of catching Covid-19 from fellow passengers have crippled commercial travel. As thousands of domestic and international connections disappear completely from airline timetables, the world has suddenly stopped shrinking. Read on...

7:42 AM

Oil falls on coronavirus surge, unexpected US crude stockpile rise

Oil prices fell on Thursday, weighed down by the surge in coronavirus cases that is hampering the global economy, along with an unexpected rise in US crude stockpiles.

 

Oil futures tracked with US equities, which also fell on pandemic concerns. Europe is grappling with a sharp increase in infections and new social restrictions. In the United States, new cases have surpassed 100,000 per day for several days, and more than a dozen states have doubled their caseloads in the last two weeks.

 

Brent crude fell 27 cents to settle at $43.53 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 33 cents to settle at $41.12 a barrel.

7:36 AM

Coronavirus winter surge puts US on red alert, Trump stews in White House

Fresh off his election loss, US President Donald Trump is stewing in the White House as the coronavirus pandemic hammers America with a winter surge that is sending almost all its 50 states into red alert.

 

As per data from Johns Hopkins, daily deaths stand at 1,800 plus end of day Wednesday - the highest level in three months. Daily cases have shot past 144,000, the highest ever. At least 65,000 people are currently hospitalised with the virus. The first case of Covid-19 in US was reported 294 days ago on January 21, 2020.

The "dark winter" warning has been sounded long ago but there is deafening silence from a White House preoccupied with fighting election results and scolding Pfizer for releasing its encouraging vaccine news after the Biden victory.

7:24 AM

World coronavirus update: UK has biggest 1-day jump in confirmed coronavirus cases

The United Kingdom posted its biggest one-day jump in laboratory-confirmed coronavirus infections Thursday as the government reported 33,470 new cases.

 

That was 10,520 more than the number of positive tests reported Wednesday and pushed the total number of cases in the UK since the pandemic began to almost 1.3 million. More than 50,000 people have died from Covid-19 in the country, which is Europe's deadliest toll.

 

Professor Stephen Powis, medical director for the National Health Service in England, said the seven-day average for positive tests is much lower at 23,668 cases and is a more accurate way to assess the national trend. Public health officials also say current figures aren't comparable to those in the first surge of the pandemic because testing capacity was much lower in the spring.

 

"It's important not to look at a single day because of the way test and trace works, Powis said at a news conference. But it's clear that infection rates have been going up as I've shown you, and what's really important is to get those infection rates down.

 

That's what will reduce deaths, it's what will reduce pressure on hospitals, and it's what will prevent the long-term effects of COVID.

7:20 AM

World coronavirus update: Moscow's Covid-19 death toll rises to 7,643

Moscow has registered 70 deaths of patients infected with Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 7,643, the city's coronavirus response center said in a statement on Thursday.

 

"Another 70 patients, who were diagnosed with pneumonia and tested positive for the coronavirus infection, died in Moscow," the center said.

7:07 AM

Bihar registers 523 fresh Covid-19 cases, 5 more deaths push tally to 1,167

Five more persons died of Covid-19 in Bihar on Thursday, raising the death toll to 1,167, while 523 fresh cases took the tally to 2,25,499, the health department said in a bulletin.

 

Altogether 536 patients also recovered from the disease, taking the total number of cured people to 2,17,958, the bulletin said. The recovery rate is now 96.66 per cent.

 

The number of active cases currently is 6,374 in the state. Read on...