Coronavirus LIVE: 73.63% of new fatalities came from just seven states

Coronavirus live updates: India will launch its Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 and priority will be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers

10:00 PM

Punjab records 304 fresh Covid-19 cases, 6 more deaths

Punjab recorded 304 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday which took the state's tally to 1,69,033 while six more fatalities pushed the death toll to 5,445, according to a medical bulletin.
 

There are 2,933 active Covid-19 cases in the state, it said.
 

Of the fresh cases, 84 were reported from Mohali, 36 from Patiala and 34 from Jalandhar, among other districts.
 

A total of 312 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection the previous day, taking the total number of cured persons to 1,60,655, the bulletin stated.
 

Eight critical patients are on ventilator support while 104 are on oxygen support, it said.
 

So far, a total of 41,01,234 samples have been collected for testing, it said.
 

9:59 PM

Chhattisgarh sees 661 Covid-19 cases, 6 deaths, 632 recoveries

With 661 Covid-19 cases and six deaths reported on Sunday, Chhattisgarh's caseload rose to 2,89,231 and toll to 3,490, a health official said.
 

The number of people who have recovered reached 2,76,774 after 90 people were discharged from hospitals and 542 completed home isolation during the day, leaving the state with 8,967 active cases, he said.
 

"Raipur district reported 123 new cases, taking its total count to 54,355, including 739 deaths. Durg recorded 114 new cases, Bilaspur 57 and Rajnandgaon 39. Of the six deaths recorded during the day, three took place on Sunday, two on Saturday and one earlier," the official informed.
 

With 18,860 samples tested on Sunday, the total number of tests in the state went up to 37,72,967, he added.
 

Chhattisgarh's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 2,89,231, New cases 661, Deaths 3,490, Recovered 2,76,774, Active cases 8,967, tests today 18,860, total tests 37,72,967.

9:14 PM

Japan says it found new coronavirus variant similar to UK strain

Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases said authorities have found a new strain of the coronavirus in four passengers arriving from Brazil.
 

The new variant has similarities to strains found in the U.K. and South Africa, the NIID said in a statement on Sunday. The information about the new variant is limited to its genetic make-up, and it’s difficult to immediately determine how infectious the strain is or the effectiveness of current vaccines against it, the institute said.
 

In a separate statement, Japan’s Ministry of Health said the four passengers who arrived at Japan’s Haneda airport from Brazil on Jan. 2 were later diagnosed with a variant of the virus. One male in his 40s, who was asymptomatic upon arrival, was hospitalized as his respiratory system worsened.
 

The NIID has informed the World Health Organization of the new strain, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper reported, adding the institute is investigating if the variant causes more severe cases.

7:56 PM

Andhra Pradesh reports 227 new Covid cases

7:45 PM

UP's Covid-19 caseload mounts to 593,171

Uttar Pradesh's Covid-19 tally climbed to 593,171 on Sunday with 699 fresh cases while the death toll mounted to 8,495 as 13 more people succumbed to the disease.

 

Of the latest fatalities, two were reported from state capital Lucknow, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement.

 

Lucknow also reported the highest number of fresh cases at 165, it said.

7:38 PM

Jammu and Kashmir reports 113 cases, one death

Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday recorded 113 coronavirus cases and one death due to it, taking the infection tally to 1,22,538 and the death toll to 1,910, officials said.

 

Of the fresh cases, 56 were reported from Jammu division and 57 from Kashmir division, they said.

 

Jammu district recorded the highest number of 48 cases, followed by 18 in Srinagar district.

6:54 PM

Andhra adds 227 new coronavirus cases

Andhra Pradesh reported 227 fresh Covid-19 cases, 289 recoveries and one death in 24 hours ending 9 AM on Sunday.

 

The state completed 1.23 crore sample tests so far that turned out a gross 8,84,916 confirmed positives of coronavirus at the rate of 7.18 per cent, the latest bulletin said.

6:27 PM

Goa sees 61 Covid-19 cases

The number of Covid-19 cases in Goa reached 51,856 after 61 people were detected with the infection on Sunday, while the day also saw one death and 100 recoveries, an official said.

 

The toll in the state is now 747 and the recovery count is 50,277, leaving it with 832 active cases, he added.

6:05 PM

No need for controversy on Covid vaccination: Punjab Civil Supplies Minister

Punjab Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu on Sunday said that there is no need for any controversy on Covid vaccination as it is for the benefit of everyone.

 

"This is a very big achievement for India and humanity that vaccination has come against Covid-19. The central government has conducted dry runs in every state. We do not need any controversy on this issue because everyone is going to benefit from this vaccination," Ashu told ANI.

 

"I want to thank scientists for having worked to develop Covid vaccine. It is a good thing," he added.

5:40 PM

UK expands asymptomatic Covid-19 testing

The UK on Sunday announced a major expansion of Covid-19 tests being made available more widely to asymptomatic people as part of efforts to control the rapid spread of a new coronavirus variant, which has led to Britain hitting the grim milestone of 80,000 deaths from the virus.

 

The community testing regime, until now available to those displaying symptoms, has been expanded to cover anyone unable to work from home to access the rapid lateral flow tests that give results in 30 minutes.

 

The move comes as hundreds of thousands of people aged 80 and over were sent letters to book a coronavirus vaccination at new National Health Service (NHS) vaccination centres that will be up and running from Monday.

5:26 PM

Pak's Covid tally crosses 500,000 cases

Pakistan's coronavirus tally on Sunday crossed a half million cases after 2,899 new infections were detected in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said.

 

Forty six people died due to the virus, taking the total number of Covid-19 fatalities to 10,644, while another 2,278 patients are in critical condition, the Ministry of National Health Services said.

 

With detection of 2,899 new cases, the total number of infections in the country reached 502,416, it said.

4:19 PM

Delhi reports 399 new coronavirus cases

3:49 PM

India's fatality rate declines to 1.44 per cent

The Covid-19 fatality rate in India has been showing a sustained decline and has further dropped to 1.44 per cent due to focused efforts of the Centre, states and Union Territories on effective clinical management of the hospitalised cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.

 

With effective containment strategy, aggressive testing and standardised clinical management protocols based on holistic standard of care protocol across government and private hospitals, the number of new deaths have dipped, it stated.

3:19 PM

Covid negative report not required to enter Puri Jagannath temple

The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Sunday announced that devotees need not produce their Covid-19 negative report for getting entry into the 12th century shrine in Puri from January 21.

 

The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting attended by SJTA chief Krishan Kumar, Puri district magistrate-cum collector Samarth Verma and Superintendent of Police K B Singh.

 

"The devotees can enter into the temple without having Covid-19 negative report from January 21. The decision will remain in force till February 21," the SJTA chief told reporters.

2:50 PM

Russia reports 22,851 Covid-19 cases

Russia has registered 22,851 Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, down from 23,309 the day before, taking the tally to 3,401,954, the coronavirus response center said on Sunday.

 

"Over the past day, 22,851 coronavirus cases have been confirmed across 83 Russian regions, including 2,589 cases (11.3 percent) that were detected actively, with people showing no clinical symptoms," the center said.

 

The highest daily increases were confirmed in Moscow (4,216), St. Petersburg (3,010) and the Moscow Region (1,292).