Coronavirus LIVE: Covid-19 vaccine dry run concludes in four states

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,925,066, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 916,909, Andhra Pradesh 881,273, Tamil Nadu 815,175, and Kerala 743,563

BS Web Team New Delhi

Coronavirus, vaccine, covid, drugs, clinical trials

6:45 PM

70% of all deaths due to Covid-19 reported among men: Health Ministry

6:10 PM

UK woman returnee to AP tests positive for contagious variant of Covid-19

A 47-year-old woman, who returned to Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh on December 23, was found to have contracted the new mutated strain of coronavirus but the state health department maintained that there was no spread of the fresh strain in AP.

Of the 12 UK-returned passengers who tested positive for COVID-19, only the woman had the new strain, state Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said, citing a report of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad.

"Her son tested negative while another person who came in contact with her also did not contract any virus," Bhaskar said in a release. There was no trace that the new UK strain of coronavirus has spread in the state, he asserted.

5:18 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Covid-19 vaccine dry run concludes successfully in four states

The two-day dry run for the Covid-19 vaccination in Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat has been successfully conducted, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday, according to IANS.

The end-to-end dry run was conducted in Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh, Rajkot and Gandhinagar districts in Gujarat, Ludhiana and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab and Sonitpur and Nalbari districts in Assam on December 28 and 29.

The District Collector with engagement of district and block task force were made responsible for conducting the dry run and were expected to provide insights on any gaps or bottle-necks during the actual conduct of vaccination.

Specific teams were formed for various tasks by the district administration and activities such as uploading of dummy beneficiary's data, session site creation, vaccine allocation, communication of vaccination details to vaccinators and beneficiaries and beneficiary mobilisation were carried out.

5:04 PM

Daily new Covid-19 cases less than 17,000 after six months now: Health Ministry

4:52 PM

Belarus starts Covid-19 vaccinations with Russian shots

Belarus on Tuesday announced the start of mass coronavirus vaccinations with the Russian-developed Sputnik V shot, becoming the second country after Russia to roll out a vaccine that is still undergoing late-stage studies to ensure its safety and effectiveness.

The first batch of Sputnik V arrived in the former Soviet republic on Tuesday, according to a joint statement by the Belarusian Health Ministry, the Russian Health Ministry and the Russian Direct Investment Fund that bankrolled development of the jab. The health ministry posted pictures of people getting the shots on social media.

"A new stage starts in Belarus today with mass vaccinations against COVID-19. Medical staff, teachers, and those who come into contact a lot of people due to their jobs will be the first to get vaccinated. Vaccination will be entirely voluntary, Health Minister of Belarus Dmitry Pinevich was quoted in the statement as saying.

4:39 PM

52% coronavirus cases are in 18-44 years age group: Health Ministry

3:38 PM

18 UK returnees to Kerala test coronavirus positive

As many as 18 UK returnees have so far tested positive for COVID-19, Health minister K K Shailaja said here on Tuesday. Arrangements had been made to quarantine at home those who had come back from the UK after the new variant of the virus surfaced. Eight people who returned from Britain had been found positivefor the virus and their samples had been sent to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune for Genomic analysis.

In the backdrop of at least six people in India testing positive for the new UK variant SARS-CoV2 strain, the elderly and those suffering from comorbidity symptoms should be vigilant, the minister said.

She said surveillance at the four international airports in Kerala has already been strengthened. After the recently held local body polls, it was feared that there would be a massive surge in cases.

3:07 PM

New Covid-19 variant existed in Germany since November: Report

The new novel coronavirus variant discovered in Britain earlier this month seems to have been present in Germany since November, a media report said

In a report published on Monday, the German national daily Die Welt said that researchers at Hannover Medical School detected the new variant in samples of an elderly patient who teted positive around November and later died, Xinhua news agency reported.

Germany reported its first known case of the new variant on December 24 in a woman who flew in from Britain, according to the health ministry of the southwestern state of Baden-Wurttemberg. READ MORE...

2:24 PM

Odisha logs 263 new coronavirus cases, four more deaths

Odisha's COVID-19 caseload on Tuesday surged to 3,29,001 after 263 more people tested positive for the infection, while four fresh fatalities pushed the toll to 1,868. Of the 263 cases, 151 were reported from various quarantine centres and the rest detected during contact tracing. Sundergarh district recorded the maximum number of new cases at 32, followed by Bargarh at 23 and Bolangir at 22. Four districts -- Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Kandhamal and Koraput -- did not register any new case since Monday.

According to the official, one each COVID-19 patient succumbed to the infection in Balasore, Kalahandi, Khurda and Puri districts.

Odisha currently has 2,688 active cases, while as many as 3,24,392 people have recovered from the infectious disease. Fifty-three patients died due to comorbidities. The coastal state's positivity rate stands at 4.78 per cent. At least 68.82 samples have been examined for COVID-19 in the coastal state so far, including 26,722 on Monday, the official added.

2:11 PM

19.84% of new Covid-19 fatalities reported from Maharashtra: Health Ministry

1:41 PM

'Covid-19 infects 9 to 10 people in LA County every minute'

On an average, nine to 10 people in Los Angeles County, the most populous in the US, test positive for novel coronavirus every minute, IANS reported. The county's Department of Public Health reported 13,661 new cases and 73 more fatalities on Monday, pushing its cumulative cases up to 733,325 with 9,555 related deaths, Xinhua news agency reported.

Recently, the Los Angeles County has been recording over 13,000 positive cases a day, with some days over 15,000, while it just saw an average of about 1,200 cases some days before the current surge began 58 days ago, said the Department.

There are 6,914 Covid-19 patients currently hospitalised in the county, with 20 per cent of them in the intensive care units. Since November 9, average daily hospitalisations of Covid-19 patients have increased by more than 670 per cent, and average daily deaths have increased 600 per cent, from 12 a day in early-November to 84 a day in mid-December, according to the Department.

1:28 PM

Not opposed to commercialising Covid vaccine, to firms selling it: Mexico

Mexican President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador has said that he is not opposed to private companies buying coronavirus vaccines to distribute to patients who want to pay for the shots.

But he noted there isn't much existing supply and warned companies not to try to buy vaccines already promised to the Mexican government.

"We are not opposed to commercializing the vaccine, to companies importing it and selling it to those who can pay, Lpez Obrador said.

"The catch is the supply of vaccines in the world markets, because there still isn't enough production," he said.

12:34 PM

Tamil Nadu coronavirus update

In Tamil Nadu, almost 2,018 people had come from the United Kingdom, we have tested 1,500 for coronavirus and roughly 17 people tested positive and 16 from their contacts: Health Secretary of Tamil Nadu J Radhakrishnan

11:16 AM

DATA STORY: India adds 16,432 Covid cases, lowest single-day spike since June 24

India on Monday conducted 983,695 coronavirus tests, taking the total count of tests conducted so far in the country to 169,801,749. The test positivity rate recorded was 1.7%. Read on...

10:54 AM