Coronavirus LIVE updates: Containment zones rise to over 4,550 in Delhi

Coronavirus update: US is the worst-hit country with 12,072,560 coronavirus cases, followed by India, which has 9,004,365 cases, Brazil (5,912,903), France (2,065,138), Russia (1,991,998)

7:52 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 1,221 fresh coronavirus cases,10 deaths

Andhra Pradeshs COVID-19 tally touched 8,59,932 as 1,221 fresh cases were added in 24 hours ending 9 am on Friday. With 1,829 more patients getting cured, the total recoveries rose to 8,37,630, the latest bulletin said. Ten fresh fatalities pushed the toll up to 6,920, it said. The number of active cases now stood at 15,382.

 

After 94.74 lakh sample tests, the overall infection positivity rate slid to 9.08 per cent while the recovery rate further improved to 97.41 per cent. Only East Godavari district reported 202 fresh cases in 24 hours while Krishna, Chittoor, West Godavari and Guntur added less than 200 each.

 

Six districts reported less than 50 new cases each while two others added less than 100 cases each in 24 hours, the bulletin added. Chittoor and Krishna districts also reported two more Covid-19 deaths each while six districts added one each to their tally.

7:45 PM

Delhi LG amends Delhi Epidemic Disease Management of Covid-19 Regulations 2020

7:44 PM

Curfew in Rajkot, Surat, and Vadodara between 9 pm and 6 am from Nov 21: Gujarat Deputy CM

7:35 PM

Kerala records 6,028 new coronavirus cases; 6,398 recoveries

Kerala recorded 6,028 COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing the caseload to 5,49,541, as the death toll is inching towards the 2,000 mark. With 6,398 people getting cured of the disease, the total recoveries mounted to 4,81,718 while 67,831 people are undergoing treatment, the minister said in a press release.

 

According to the release, 60,365 samples have been sent for testing in the last 24 hours,and the test positivity rate has touched 9.98 per cent. So far, 57,49,016 samples have been sent for testing. The toll has climbed to 1,997 with 28 more deaths.

Of the positive cases, 56 are health workers, while 105 people had come from outside the state and 5,213 infected through contact. Malappuram recorded 1054 cases, Kozhikode 691, Thrissur 653 and three districts accounted for 500 and odd cases. Idukki reported 85 cases, the least. As many as 3,15,518 people are under observation in various districts, including 16,429 in hospitals. Three new areas were included in the hotspot list while 11 places were removed.

7:25 PM

Nepal records 1,945 new coronavirus cases; tally reaches 216,965

Nepal on Friday recorded 1,945 new COVID-19 cases, taking the countrywide tally to 216,965. The country also recorded its highest single-day recovery from the infection with 5,364 people being declared COVID-19 free in the last 24 hours, it said.

 

Nepal has achieved 88 per cent coronavirus recovery in comparison with the total infected cases. With the new recoveries, the recovery tally has reached 191,002, the ministry said.

 

Of the 1,945 new coronavirus cases, 1,107 were reported from the Kathmandu Valley, it said, adding that the nationwide COVID-19 tally now stands at 216,965.

7:13 PM

Chinese Covid-19 vaccine enters third-stage human trial

A leading Chinese vaccine maker said it has commenced phase-3 clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine and is planning to recruit 29,000 volunteers across the world. This is China's first phase-3 efficacy study for a Recombinant subunit COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biopharmaceutical, said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Jointly developed by the company and the Institute of Microbiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the vaccine was issued a clinical research permit from the National Medical Products Administration on June 19.

The company said the research, which plans to enroll up to 29,000 adults aged 18 and up, was launched on Wednesday in Xiangtan County, central China's Hunan Province.

 

7:12 PM

Chinese COVID-19 vaccine enters third-stage human trial

7:08 PM

ICC postpones women's T20 World Cup from 2022 to 2023 due to Covid-19

The South African edition of the Women's T20 World Cup was on Thursday postponed by three months to February 2023 to avoid a cluster a big-ticket events in 2022 and manage players' workload, International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday. The tournament was scheduled in November 2022 but will now be held in February 2023.

 

In August this year, the ICC had postponed the 50 over Women's World Cup slated in New Zealand from 2021 to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and women's T20 cricket is also set to make its debut in the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games..

 

"The Board confirmed that the ICC Women's T20 World Cup will move from its current slot at the end of 2022 to 9-26 February 2023," ICC said in a statement. READ ON...

6:58 PM

Rajasthan reports 2,762 new coronavirus cases, 14 deaths and 1,993 recoveries today

6:50 PM

IIT Indore PhD lab work suspended after five new Covid-19 cases

Laboratory work for PhD students was suspended till November 25 at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore in Madhya Pradesh after five persons were found infected with the novel coronavirus in the last 11 days, the facility's spokesperson Sunil Kumar said on Friday.

 

Kumar said B.Tech, M.Tech and other regular courses, however, were being conducted online as usual, and the orientation programme for a fresh batch of B.Tech students was also organised.

 

"A total of 351 students were admitted in various disciplines this year," he said.

6:42 PM

CBSE exams for class 10 and 12 will happen and a schedule is likely to be announced soon: Board secretary

6:41 PM

One more Covid-19 death in Noida, infection tally crosses 21,000-mark

Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded one more COVID-19 fatality pushing its death toll to 74, while the district's infection tally surged to 21,166 with 175 new cases on Friday, official data showed. Active cases came down to 1,401, the third highest in the state, from 1,411, the previous day, according to the data released by the Uttar Pradesh Health Department for a 24-hour period.

 

A total of 186 more patients got discharged during the period in Gautam Buddh Nagar with the overall recoveries reaching 19,691, the fifth highest in the state, it showed.

 

With the death toll reaching 74, Gautam Buddh Nagar now has a mortality rate of 0.34 per cent. The recovery rate of patients reached 93.03 per cent, the statistics showed.

6:30 PM

Kejriwal urges AAP leaders, workers to visit public places, distribute free masks

6:19 PM

Contact tracing, house-to-house surveys to be stepped up in Delhi

In an effort to control the spread of Covid-19 in Delhi, house-to-house surveys and contact-tracing will be stepped up in containment zones, said the Delhi government.

 

"Contact tracing was already taking place before this spike and is still underway at a large scale. House-to-house surveys will be conducted in containment zones from today to check on symptomatic patients," said Satyendar Jain, Delhi Health Minister, on Friday.

 

This comes amid a continuous spike in Covid-19 cases in the national capital. As many as 7,546 new Coronavirus cases and 98 fatalities were reported on Thursday, taking the total positive cases to 5,10,630 and 8,041 deaths. The government has announced various measures to contain the spread of the highly contagious virus. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that the fine for not wearing a face mask had been increased to Rs 2,000 from Rs 500.

6:11 PM

Pfizer seeking emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine in US

Pfizer said Friday it is asking US regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine, starting the clock on a process that could bring limited first shots as early as next month and eventually an end to the pandemic -- but not until after a long, hard winter.

 

The action comes days after Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech announced that its vaccine appears 95 per cent effective at preventing mild to severe COVID-19 disease in a large, ongoing study.

 

The companies said that protection plus a good safety record means the vaccine should qualify for emergency use authorization, something the Food and Drug Administration can grant before the final testing is fully complete.