Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's Covid-19 recovery rate crosses 96%

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,932,112, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 918,544, Andhra Pradesh 881,948, Tamil Nadu 817,077, and Kerala 755,718

4:03 PM

Total of 800,000 Israelis vaccinated against Covid-19 since start of campaign, says Netanyahu

Over 150,000 Israeli citizens received a vaccine against the coronavirus over the past day, taking the total count of those vaccinated to 800,000, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

 

The mass vaccination campaign in Israel kicked off on December 20, as the country has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. The priority groups to get inoculated include medical workers, students of medical schools, employees of geriatric institutions and government officials. Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have already got inoculated.

 

"More than 150,000 Israelis got vaccinated yesterday [Wednesday], and a total of 800,000 people have already been inoculated against the coronavirus. World Champions! We will continue doing this way and become the first to get out of the pandemic, re-open our economy and return to life," Netanyahu wrote on Twitter.

3:41 PM

79.87% of new Covid-19 cases from 10 States and UTs: Health Ministry

3:20 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: All states, UTs to conduct Covid-19 vaccine dry run on Jan 2

A dry run for COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted by all state and union territory administrations on January 2 to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges, the Centre said on Thursday. The activity is proposed to be conducted in all state capitals in at least 3 session sites.

 

Some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support, while Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capital, the Union Health Ministry said.

 

"The objective of the dry run for COVID-19 vaccine introduction is to assess operational feasibility in the use of Co-WIN application in field environment, to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges and guide way forward prior to actual implementation. This is also expected to give confidence to programme managers at various levels," the ministry said.

 

3:00 PM

Covid-19 vaccine dry run will be conducted by all State and UT govts on Jan 2

2:48 PM

Govt placed orders for procurement of 83 crore syringes for Covid-19 vaccination

In anticipation of the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccine, the government has placed orders for procurement of nearly 83 crore syringes to be used for coronavirus vaccination and the Universal Immunization Programme, a statement from the Union Health Ministry informed on Thursday.

 

According to the statement, bids have been invited for 35 crore more syringes and as many as 36,433 ventilators have been delivered to government hospitals across the country in the last nine months, with the cost ranging from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, considerably more cost-effective than the Rs 15 lakh price tag in February-March.

 

"This is important because from the independence of the country till pre-COVID times, all the public health facilities in the country had only about 16,000 ventilators but in less than 12 months 36,433 'Make in India' ventilators have been supplied to all the public health facilities," the statement said.

2:26 PM

Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's Covid-19 recovery rate crosses 96%

India has recorded 96.04 per cent COVID-19 recovery rate on Thursday, which is one of the highest globally, according to the Union Health Ministry. The total recovered coronavirus cases have crossed 98.6 lakhs (98,60,280), the Ministry added. The gap between active cases and recovered cases is continuously increasing and stands at 96,02,624, it stated.

 

The Health Ministry said that the active cases have drastically declined to 2.57 lakh. The total positive cases of the country are 2,57,656 and now comprise merely 2.51per cent of the total cases, they added.

 

With a high number of COVID patients recovering every day and the sustained fall in the mortality rate, India's steady trend of registering dipping active cases continues, the Health Ministry said in a release.

1:58 PM

Odisha logs 315 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths

Odisha has recorded 315 new Covid-19 cases, and 328 recoveries, the State Health Department informed on Thursday. The new 315 cases were reported from 27 of the 30 districts of the state, with 181 persons in quarantine.

 

As per the Health Department, the number of active cases in the state stands at 2,592. With two more deaths recorded on the same day, the death toll has reached 1,873. With this, Odisha has registered 3,29,621 cases of novel coronavirus so far including 3,25,103 recoveries.

12:02 PM

Fight against Covid-19 is the one against an unknown enemy: Narendra Modi

In our country, rumours spread quickly. Different people for their personal gains or due to irresponsible behaviour spread various rumours. Maybe rumours will be spread when vaccination begins, some have already begun. I appeal to the people of the country that fight against Covid-19 is the one against an unknown enemy. Be careful about such rumours and as responsible citizens refrain from forwarding messages on social media without checking: Prime Minister Narendra Modi

12:00 PM

Last day of year is to remember India's frontline Covid warriors: PM Modi

Last day of year is to remember India's frontline Covid warriors: PM Modi

11:57 AM

India registers 21,822 new Covid-19 cases, tally crosses 10.2 million

India's Covid-19 caseload increased to 1,02,66,674 with 21,822 new infections being reported in a day, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 98.60 lakh pushing the national recovery rate over 96 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

 

The death toll increased to 1,48,738 with 299 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Read on...

11:37 AM

Amid global criticism, China approves Sinopharm vaccine for general use

Amid global criticism over the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine against COVID-19, China on Thursday approved the country's first coronavirus vaccine for general public use, reported New York Times (NYT).

 

Sinopharm's subsidiary Beijing Institute of Biological Products said that the efficiency of its vaccine had exceeded 79 per cent based on an interim analysis of Phase 3 trials.

 

They plan to vaccinate 50 million people in China by mid-February, when hundreds of millions are expected to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday, reported NYT.

 

However, Sinopharm has provided no breakdown of results and left many questions unanswered, adding to a lack of clarity that has dogged China's coronavirus vaccine development for months.

11:29 AM

Telangana's daily Covid count dips further to 415

In a further drop in new Covid cases in Telangana, the health authorities on Thursday reported 415 new infections during the last 24 hours.

 

The new cases detected out of a sample size of over 43,000 pushed the state's tally to 2,86,354.

 

Three more persons succumbed to the virus during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,541.

 

The fatality rate remained 0.53 per cent against the national average of 1.4 per cent.

 

According to director of public health and family welfare, 44.96 per cent of the deaths occurred due to Covid while 55.04 per cent had comorbidities.

 

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) reported 91 new cases during last 24 hours. This is the fifth time in a week that the daily count of cases dropped to below 100.

10:46 AM

Coronavirus in India: Latest update by MoHFW

Active cases: 257,656 (Net reduction: 4,616)

Deaths: 148,738 (Net increase: 299)

Cured: 9,860,280 (Net increase: 26,139)

Total cases: 10,266,674 (Net increase: 21,822)

10:46 AM

Singapore further tightens coronavirus control measures on air crew

Crew members of Singapore carriers will have to undergo stricter Covid-19 control measures with immediate effect following coronavirus cases involving a steward and a pilot.

 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) said on Wednesday that it was tightening measures to ensure the safety and well-being of the crew and to safeguard public health in Singapore.

 

Flight crew, who layover in "high-risk destinations", will be required to undergo polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on three occasions - upon arrival in Singapore, and on the third and seventh day following their return, reported the Channel News Asia, citing a CAAS statement. Read on...

10:44 AM

Coronavirus in India: 1,127,244 samples were tested yesterday

A total of 17,20,49,274 samples tested for Covid-19 up to December 30. Of these, 11,27,244 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)