Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra reports 8,998 new Covid-19 in past 24 hours

Coronavirus live updates: Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in daily new cases. Stay tuned for corona-related news

10:29 AM

Jammu and Kashmir: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha takes his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine

Jammu and Kashmir: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha takes his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, at Government Medical College and hospital in Jammu.

10:04 AM

Global Covid-19 caseload tops 115.1 mn, death toll over 2.55 million

The total number of global Covid-19 cases has topped 115.1 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.55 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

 

In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 115,158,945 and 2,558,261, respectively.

9:59 AM

Canada panel recommends 4 months gap between Covid vaccine doses

A national panel of vaccine experts in Canada recommended Wednesday that provinces extend the interval between the two doses of a Covid-19 shot to four months to quickly inoculate more people amid a shortage of doses in Canada, reports AP.

9:56 AM

Maha: Thane's COVID-19 count rises by 818, death toll by 6

Thane has added818 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 2,66,910,an official said on Thursday.

 

Besides these new cases reported on Wednesday, six more people also succumbed to the viral infection, raising the death toll in the district to 6,286, he said.

9:39 AM

Coronavirus update: A total of 21,91,78,908 samples tested for Covid-19

9:15 AM

Spain's Covid deaths surpass 70,000, over 4 million vaccines administered

Spain's total COVID-19 deaths surpassed 70,000 on Wednesday after the Ministry of Health reported that 446 people had lost their lives to the virus in the past 24 hours. The total number of deaths has now risen to 70,247 since the start of the pandemic.

 

The ministry also reported 6,137 new cases of the coronavirus, which brought the national tally to 3,136,321. The caseload figure is actually lower than the 3,204,531 cases reported on Monday after a correction carried out on Tuesday which removed over 70,000 cases that had been counted twice. Read on...

9:10 AM

Canada thanks India for sending 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccines

Canada on Wednesday (local time) thanked India for sending coronavirus vaccines, of which 500,000 doses reached on March 4, a week after the AstraZeneca vaccine was approved.

 

Anita Anand, MP for Oakville and Minister of Public Services and Procurement, said in a tweet, "The AZ/CoviShield vaccine is now in Canada. The first tranche of 500,000 doses arrived this morning from Serum Institute of India with 1.5 million more doses to follow. Thank you to all whose hard work made this happen. We look forward to future collaboration."

9:04 AM

Coronavirus impact: South Korea economy shrank in 2020 for first time in over two decades

South Korea's central bank says the country's economy shrank for the first time in 22 years in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic destroyed service industry jobs and depressed consumer spending.

 

Preliminary data released by the Bank of Korea on Thursday showed the country's gross domestic product last year contracted 1 per cent from 2019. It was the first annual contraction since 1998, when South Korea was in the midst of a crippling financial crisis. Read on...