Coronavirus LIVE: Phase 2/3 trials of Sputnik V vaccine starts in India

Coronavirus LIVE update: At 1,828,826, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 884,897, Andhra Pradesh 868,064, Tamil Nadu 781,915 and Kerala 602,982

9:52 AM

SC to hear its suo motu case in terms of the fire that broke out at Rajkot in a covid designated hospital

9:48 AM

Supreme Court to shortly hear it’s suo motu case pertaining to management of Covid-19 crisis and mishandling of dead bodies

9:46 AM

Coronavirus LIVE: Total discharged cases at 88,89,585 with 41,985 new discharges in last 24 hrs

9:45 AM

Coronavirus India update: Summary of MoHFW data (December 1)

Active cases: 435,603 (Net reduction: 11,349)

Deaths: 137,621 (Net addition: 482)

Cured: 8,889,585 (Net addition: 41,985)

Total cases: 9,462,809 (Net addition: 31,118)

9:21 AM

Zimbabwe's Covid-19 cases surpass 10,000 mark

Zimbabwe reported 84 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the national tally to 10,034, said the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

 

The country has recorded 8,489 recoveries and 277 deaths since the onset of the pandemic in March, said the Ministry, adding that the number of locally transmitted infections has increased in recent weeks.

 

Zimbabwe has lifted most of its lockdown restrictions as the nation seeks to rebuild the economy that has been impacted by the pandemic and the drought.

9:16 AM

Asian factories continue recovery from Covid-19 woes as China booms

Asian factories continued to recover steadily in November thanks to a boom in economic powerhouse China, private surveys showed on Tuesday, offering hope the region was shaking off the drag from the Covid-19 crisis.

 

But a global resurgence in coronavirus infections has made the outlook highly uncertain, keeping governments and central banks under pressure to maintain or ramp up their massive stimulus programmes, analysts say.

 

China's factory activity accelerated at the fastest pace in a decade in November, a private survey showed on Tuesday, a sign the world's second-largest economy is recovering to pre-pandemic levels.

9:06 AM

AYUSH Dept to study Art of living foundation's coronavirus cure

Spiritual leader and founder of Art of Living Foundation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said the breakthrough in Siddha research by making -- 'Kabasura Kudineer', an AYUSH medicine -- in tablet form helps to prevent and tackle Covid-19.

 

Addressing a press conference here virtually on Monday, the spiritual leader also called for more research on feasibility of AYUSH medicine effective in treatments for Covid-19.

 

He added that initial research including key study at the Frankfurt Biotechnology Innovation Centre (FIZ) proved its efficacy.

 

The spiritual leader added that though multiple studies are now being conducted on the immuno-modulatory effects of traditional Indian medicines, nationally and internationally.

8:58 AM

Hoping two coronavirus vaccines would be approved soon, says UK PM Boris Johnson

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday he hoped that two promising coronavirus vaccine candidates would be approved shortly.

 

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is yet to greenlight the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca co-labs.

 

"We're obviously hoping that both the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will get approved in the course of the next few days and weeks," he told reporters during a trip to a medical facility. Read on...

8:46 AM

Chinese mainland reports 8 new imported Covid cases

The Chinese mainland reported eight new imported Covid-19 cases on Monday, bringing the total number of imported cases to 3,866.

 

Two new imported cases were respectively reported in Shanghai, Fujian and Sichuan, and one each in Beijing and Shaanxi, the National Health Commission said in its daily report on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.

8:38 AM

World coronavirus update: Croatian PM tests positive for COVID-19

A repeated Covid-19 test of Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic was positive, the country's cabinet said.

 

The Croatian Prime Minister went into self-isolation for 10 days on Saturday after his wife tested positive for coronavirus. At the same time, the first test of the head of government was negative.

 

"In accordance with recommendations of epidemiologists, Andrej Plenkovic was re-tested for the presence of COVID-19, the result was positive.

8:05 AM

Inform people about vaccine in simple language, PM tells manufacturers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday held a virtual meeting with three teams working on developing and manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine, and urged them to take extra efforts to inform people in simple language about the vaccine and related matters such as its efficacy.

 

The PM also asked the companies to come out with suggestions and ideas regarding the regulatory processes and related matters. These teams were from Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, Pune; Biological E, Hyderabad; and Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad.

7:49 AM

Covishield's approval process hinges on adverse event investigation

The outcome of the in-depth investigation by the country’s drug regulator on the serious adverse event reported in a 40-year-old trial participant in Chennai will decide the future course of the approval process of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, said the country's apex health research institution.

 

In October, a trial participant suffered a neurological illness (acute encephalopathy) and was hospitalised 10 days after he received the first jab of the vaccine in the Covishield trial. He sent a legal notice to the Serum Institute of India (SII), the sponsor of the trial, seeking Rs 5 crore in damages. Read on...

7:44 AM

Airlines face 'mission of the century' in shipping coronavirus vaccines

In cooled warehouses on the fringes of Frankfurt airport, Deutsche Lufthansa AG is preparing its depleted fleet for the gargantuan task of airlifting millions of doses of the vaccines meant to end the global pandemic.

 

Lufthansa, one of the world’s biggest cargo carriers, began planning in April in anticipation of the shots that Pfizer Inc. to Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc are developing in record time. A 20-member task force is at work devising how to fit more of the crucial payload onto the airline’s 15 Boeing Co. 777 and MD-11 freighters, along with hold space in a vast passenger fleet now flying at just 25% of capacity. Read on...

7:34 AM

Goldilocks year awaits emerging markets defying Covid-19 pandemic rout

Emerging-market investors seem to have everything going for them right now, with the November rally offering a hint of what 2021 may have in store.

 

A plethora of tailwinds from accommodative central banks to an impending change of U.S. president and Covid-19 vaccine progress has put the assets of developing nations on course for some impressive milestones. Bonds have wiped out their year-to-date losses, while MSCI Inc.’s currency index is poised for the best month since January 2019 as well as a second successive annual gain. The MSCI stocks gauge is on track for its best month since March 2016. Read on...

7:20 AM

Coronavirus world update: France records 4,005 new COVID-19 cases, 406 deaths in 24 hours

France today registered 4,005 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 406 deaths from the disease in the last 24 hours, while the number of hospitalized patients continued a downward trend, data released by health authorities showed.

 

Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 2,222,488 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, of whom 52,731 have died.