Coronavirus LIVE: PM Modi to meet CMs over vaccine rollout on Monday

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,958,282, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 924,898, Andhra Pradesh 884,171, Tamil Nadu 823,986, and Kerala 795,933

7:03 PM

DGCA issues guidelines to airlines for carrying Covid-19 vaccines packed in dry ice

Aviation regulator DGCA on Friday issued guidelines to all aircraft operators who plan to transport COVID-19 vaccines packed in dry ice to various parts of the country. Dry ice transforms into carbon dioxide gas at temperatures higher than -78 degrees Celsius under normal atmospheric pressure and therefore it is classified as "dangerous goods" by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), it said.

 

"All operators while engaging in transportation of COVID-19 vaccines packed with dry ice shall establish the maximum quantity of dry ice that can be loaded in a given cargo hold or in the main deck (passenger cabin) when a passenger version is deployed for all cargo operations," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) noted.

 

The country is preparing for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines and the second nationwide mock drill on the drive was conducted on January 8.

6:33 PM

319 new Covid-19 cases, 308 recoveries in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh reported 319 fresh coronavirus cases, 308 recoveries and one death in 24 hours ending 9 am on Friday. The cumulative confirmed positive cases so far touched 8,84,490 after 1.22 crore sample tests, with an overall infection positivity rate of 7.24 per cent, a health department bulletin said.

 

The total recoveries stood at 8,74,531 and deaths 7,127, leaving 2,832 active cases, it said.

 

Krishna district reported 46 fresh cases and one death in a day. Chittoor added 44 and Guntur 39 new cases while 10 other districts reported less than 30 fresh cases each. After a lull for several days, wherein it saw daily new COVID-19 cases below 10, Kurnool added 26 anew in 24 hours, pushing its active caseload upwards to 97.

6:11 PM

UK approves Moderna vaccine for rollout against Covid-19

The UK's regulatory authority on Friday approved a third COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country, made by the company Moderna.

 

However, supplies of the new jab are not expected to be available until the spring in a few weeks' time as the UK has pre-ordered 7 million doses. In trials with more than 30,000, the Moderna vaccine offered nearly 95 per cent protection from severe COVID.

 

The Moderna vaccine works in a similar way to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that is already being offered by the National Health Service (NHS). It requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping -- similar to a normal freezer. In comparison, the Pfizer/BioNTech one requires temperatures closer to -75C, making transport logistics much more difficult.

5:52 PM

Bharat Biotech seeks DCGI's nod to conduct trials of nasal Covid-19 vaccine

The Bharat Biotech International Limited has sent a proposal to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for conducting the phase 1 trials of a nasal vaccine against COVID-19, ANI reported on Friday.

 

"Bharat Biotech sent an application to DCGI for conducting the phase 1 trials of a nasal vaccine against COVID-19. The matter is yet to be taken up," the official said.

 

A nasal vaccine could save on medical equipment, such as syringes, and save time taken for vaccination. COVID-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' were granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation by the DCGI on January 3. This comes a day after Bharat Biotech announced the successful completion of volunteer enrolment for phase-3 clinical trials of 'Covaxin.'

5:04 PM

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong receives Covid-19 vaccine

Urging Singaporeans to get inoculated against COVID-19, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Friday received his first dose of the vaccine, becoming the first member of the Cabinet to take the jab. Lee, 68, posted a video of himself being injected in the arm at a hospital on his official Facebook page.

 

"We got vaccinated early to show Singaporeans we are confident that the vaccine is safe and effective," he said in a post accompanying the video.

 

According to Channel News Asia, Lee received the shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine along with Singapore General Hospital (SGH) staff at the official launch of vaccinations for healthcare workers.

 

Talking to reporters at SGH, Lee said he was happy to see the start of inoculations for healthcare and frontline workers. "I took the opportunity to have my own jab this morning and now I'm done 30 minutes waited, nothing happened," he said.

4:24 PM

Delhi reports 444 Covid cases, 823 recoveries and 10 deaths in last 24 hours

3:45 PM

Covid-19 vaccination dry run successful in Kerala

The Kerala health department on Friday said that the dry run for Covid-19 vaccination was carried out successfully at 46 centres across 14 districts in the state. The department said in a statement that the exercise was successful in both the urban and rural areas of the state.

 

"All the mandatory trial runs were conducted in all the centres of the state," the statement added.

 

The state has requested the Centre for 5 lakh doses of Covid vaccine. The health department officials said that even if the quantity of doses is more, the department has all the facilities available to store them. The Covid vaccine is slated to reach here from Chennai and the health department has put in place all the proper distribution channels across the state.

3:03 PM

All those arriving from UK, who test positive will be isolated: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

2:24 PM

South Korea reports 674 new Covid-19 cases

South Korea on Friday reported 674 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of infections to 67,358. The daily caseload stayed below 1,000 for four straight days, but it hovered above 100 for 62 days since November 8, 2020m due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province, as well as imported cases, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

The daily average number of confirmed cases for the past week was 799.

 

Of the new cases, 186 were Seoul residents and 236 were people residing in Gyeonggi province. Forty-one were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,647.

1:55 PM

Active cases account for 2.16% of total Covid-19 caseload in India

The steady fall in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases in the country has ensured the contraction of its active caseload, which stands at 2,25,449 as on date and accounts for only 2.16 per cent of the total infections, the health ministry said on Friday. Only 18,139 people tested positive for the viral disease in the country in a span of 24 hours, it said, adding that with 20,539 recoveries in the period, a net decline of 2,634cases in the number of active cases was registered.

 

Providing figures that show the change in the number of active cases in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said Maharashtra recorded the maximum positive change with an addition of 307 cases, whereas Kerala showed the maximum negative change with a drop of 613 cases.

 

The number of daily recoveries is increasing exponentially and stands at10,037,398, the ministry said. It added that 79.96 per cent of the new recoveries were reported from 10 states and Union territories.

1:29 PM

Puducherry logs 20 new Covid-19 cases, tally rises to 38,389

The union territory of Puducherry reported 20 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 38,389, a top Health department official said on Friday,

 

The 20 new cases were identified after the examination of 3,411 samples, Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release.

 

No fresh fatality was reported during the last 24 hours and the toll remained at 636, he added.

 

As many as 36 patients were discharged after recovery during the last 24 hours from hospitals.

1:15 PM

Ryanair cuts full year traffic forecast to below 30 mn

Europe's largest budget airline Ryanair said that it has cut its full year traffic forecast for the fiscal year 2021 from below 35 million to between 26 million and 30 million, largely due to the recently announced Covid-19 lockdowns in Ireland and Britain.

 

The newly announced lockdowns and travel restrictions, in addition to a few other European Union countries this week, will materially reduce its flight schedules and traffic forecast in the first quarter of this year, the Dublin-based airline said in a statement on Thursday.

 

Ryanair said it now expects that its January traffic will fall below 1.25 million passengers and its February and March traffic numbers could drop to as little as half a million respectively, reports Xinhua news agency.

1:14 PM

COVID-19: Active cases account for 2.16 pc of total caseload in India

The steady fall in the number of fresh COVID-19 cases in the country has ensured the contraction of its active caseload, which stands at 2,25,449 as on date and accounts for only 2.16 per cent of the total infections, the health ministry said on Friday.

 

Only 18,139 people tested positive for the viral disease in the country in a span of 24 hours, it said, adding that with 20,539 recoveries in the period, a net decline of 2,634cases in the number of active cases was registered.

 

Providing figures that show the change in the number of active cases in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said Maharashtra recorded the maximum positive change with an addition of 307 cases, whereas Kerala showed the maximum negative change with a drop of 613 cases.

12:52 PM

Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,051

Kerala continues to report the highest daily new cases at 5,051. It is followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh with 3,729 and 1,010 new cases, respectively. 81.22% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

12:47 PM

82 persons detected with new UK mutant strain in India

A total of 82 persons found with new mutant variant of SARS- CoV-2 virus so far: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare