Coronavirus LIVE updates: India's active tally dips to 3.62% of total cases
Coronavirus live updates: At 1,872,440, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 899,011, Andhra Pradesh 874,000, Tamil Nadu 796,475, and Kerala 658,683
 "J P Nadda, Jagat Prakash Nadda")
BJP National President J P Nadda | Photo: PTI
Coronavirus LIVE: India’s active caseload falls to 3.62% of total active cases
21 days ideal gap between 2 doses of Covid-19 vaccine: Experts
As India gets readied for a massive Covid vaccination programme, heath experts on Sunday said that 21 days is an ideal gap between the first and the second booster dose, and those who get vaccinated have to maintain the same health hygiene as they are supposed to do sans vaccine for a certain time period. Union Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said that 30 crore people have been listed in prioritised population groups, which involves one crore healthcare workers, two crore personnel from the police department, armed forces, home guard, civil defence organisation and 27 crore people above the age of 50 and below 50 with co-morbidities.
The government is expected to roll out its first vaccines in the next few weeks with at least three candidates under the active consideration of India's drug regulator. According to Dr Manoj Goel, Director, Pulmonology at Fortis Hospital in Gurugram, after taking the first dose, the second dose has to be ideally taken on the 21st day. "After the vaccination, one can resume their normal day to day activities. In between also, there are no guidelines to sit at home and people can carry on their usual activities by taking the basic precautions like social distancing, wearing a mask and frequent sanitising of hands," Goel told IANS.
Italy reports 19,903 new Covid-19 cases
Italy reported on Saturday 19,903 new Covid-19 cases, bringing its tally to 1,825,775, according to the country's health authorities. The health ministry also confirmed 649 new fatalities from the virus over the past day, taking the national death toll to 64,036.
Italy is among the countries hard hit by the pandemic. The country reported its first known Covid-19 case in late February 2020.
Telangana records 573 new Covid-19 cases, four deaths
Telangana recorded 573 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths, taking the tally to 277,724 and the tollto 1,493, the state government said on Sunday. The cumulative recoveries rose to 2,57,278, while there were 7,630 active cases in the state as of 8 PM on Saturday, a bulletin said.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) areas accounted for most of the fresh cases, with 127 people testing positive, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (67) and Ranga Reddy (58) districts, it said. As many as 47,186 samples were tested during the period, taking the aggregate number of samples examined so far to 6,128,703.
New Zealand reports 3 new cases of Covid-19
New Zealand reported three new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday with no new community cases, said the Ministry of Health in a statement. According to the ministry, two of the new cases were recent returnees from the United States and one was from Britain.
The total number of active Covid-19 cases was 56 and the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country reached 1,740, said the ministry. Laboratories across New Zealand processed another 4,245 tests for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,341,978.
Coronavirus: A total of 153,711,833 samples tested for Covid-19 up to December 12
Jharkhand reports 189 new Covid-19 cases; tally rises to 111,366
Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally mounted to 111,366 as 189 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Sunday. The COVID-19 death toll remained at 995 as no fresh fatality has been reported in the last 24 hours, he said. Ranchi district registered the maximum number of fresh cases at 78, followed by Palamu (15), Bokaro (12) and East Singhbhum (12).
Jharkhand now has 1,610 active coronavirus cases, while 1,08,761 people have been cured of the disease so far, the official said. The state has tested 19,757 samples for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, he added.
Coronavirus LIVE: 30,254 new cases in India, 391 deaths in last 24 hours
Telangana reported 573 new Covid-19 cases, 609 recoveries
New York announces record high Covid tests
A total of 242,927 Covid-19 test results were reported to New York state, a new record high, while the total hospitalizations rose to a peak of 5,359, said an official statement. Of the 242,927 Covid-19 tests, 11,129 were positive, or 4.58 per cent of the total, down from 4.98 per cent one day earlier, it said. "Covid cases are continuing to climb nationwide and with the holiday season in full swing. It could get worse before it gets better," Governor Andrew Cuomo was quoted as saying.
"The federal government must do its job and provide resources to state and local governments to equitably administer the vaccine and provide badly needed support for businesses and the unemployed," he said. Meanwhile, the Governor stressed that the state is laser focused on ensuring the increase in cases does not overwhelm the hospital system and it is putting in place redundancies to shore them up, Xinhua reported.
"Ultimately, it's up to each of us to slow the spread of this virus until there is widespread access to a vaccine: wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands and stay vigilant," he added. According to Cuomo's tweet on Saturday, total hospitalizations were 5,359 on Friday, up from 5,321 on Thursday.
West Bengal's Covid-19 death toll crosses 9,000-mark
The Covid-19 death toll in West Bengal crossed the 9,000-mark on Saturday as 44 more people succumbed to the disease, while 2,710 fresh cases pushed the tally in the state to 519,215, a health department bulletin said. The new fatalities increased the coronavirus toll to 9,010, it said. At least 2,913 people were cured of the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 487,171.
West Bengal now has 23,034 active cases, the bulletin said. Kolkata reported the maximum number of fresh fatalities at 16, followed by North 24 Parganas (13), Howrah (5), South 24 Parganas (2) and Hooghly (1). Of the 44 deaths, 39 were due to the comorbidities where Covid-19 was incidental, it said. Kolkata accounted for the highest number of new coronavirus cases at 662, followed by North 24 Parganas (642), South 24 Parganas (167), Howrah (148) and Hooghly (121), it said.
Over 6.38 million samples have been tested for Covid-19 in the state, including 42,107 during the day, it added.
More than 16 million coronavirus cases now confirmed in US
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has surpassed 16 million, while the death toll stands at over 297,000, according to the latest data from the Coronavirus Resource Center of the Johns Hopkins University. As of Saturday, there were 16,014,839 coronavirus cases in the US, including 297,501 deaths from Covid-19.
A total of 6,135,314 people have recovered from Covid-19 in the US, Johns Hopkins University data showed. The United States has the largest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, as well as the highest death toll, of all the countries in the world.
Brazil government outlines plan for coronavirus vaccinations
Brazil's government has presented a Supreme Court justice with a coronavirus immunization plan that provides initially for only enough shots for about a quarter of the population and does not indicate a start date. The document, which was made public Saturday, was submitted by President Jair Bolsonaro's administration the previous night to judge Ricardo Lewandoswki, who had ordered the report after an opposition political party filed a lawsuit seeking information on the government's immunization plans for the pandemic.
The plan calls for the government to provide immunization shots for priority groups that amount to about 51 million people, just under 25% of Brazil's 212 million people. The first of four phases for vaccinating those groups include health workers, people older than 80 and Indigenous peoples. Signed by the Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello, the document says, however, that the interruption of the circulation of Covid-19 in the national territory depends on a highly effective vaccine being administered to more than 70% of the population.
No date is given for starting to give out immunization shots. Brazil's health regulator, Anvisa, has not yet approved the use of any coronavirus vaccine in the country.
Punjab reports 482 new Covid-19 cases, 654 discharges, and 21 deaths today
Covid vaccine will be provided free of cost in the state: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan
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First Published: Dec 12 2020 | 6:26 AM IST
