Coronavirus LIVE: Maharashtra records 6,185 fresh cases, 85 deaths

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,808,550, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 879,560, Andhra Pradesh 865,000, Tamil Nadu 776,174 and Kerala 583,000

2:04 AM

Sikkim reports 37 fresh cases of Covid-19, one more death

Sikkim reported 37 fresh Covid-19 cases and one more fatality, an official said on Friday.

 

State IEC member Sonam Bhutia said East Sikkim registered 31 cases, while South Sikkim and West Sikkim logged three cases each.

 

The coronavirus tally in the state has risen to 4,908, and active cases stand at 264, Bhutia said.

12:32 AM

Bihar reports five more Covid deaths, 698 fresh cases

Bihar's Covid-19 tally rose to 233,839 after 698 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours, while five fresh fatalities took the death toll to 1,248, a health department bulletin said on Friday.

 

It said that 654 patients recovered from the disease taking the total number of cured people to 227,046.

 

The state now has 5,545 active cases.

12:15 AM

BJP leader Baijayant Panda tests Covid-19 positive

National vice president of the BJP and incharge of the party's Delhi unit, Baijayant Panda, on Friday said he has tested positive for Covid-19.

 

In a late night tweet, Panda advised those who came in his contact to take precautions and get tested for the novel coronavirus.

 

"Because of certain symptoms, I got tested today & have been found Covid positive. I am now in isolation on doctor's advice. Request all those who came in contact with me in the last few days to take the necessary precautions & isolate or get tested," he tweeted.

11:20 PM

Many turn to real Christmas trees as bright spot amid virus

Ani Sirois, a respiratory nurse, has spent months caring for coronavirus patients at a Portland, Oregon, hospital, and she's only getting busier as infections and hospitalizations surge before the holidays.

 

But on a recent sunny day, Covid-19 seemed far away as she, her husband and their 2-year-old daughter roamed a Christmas tree farm in search of the perfect evergreen for a holiday season unlike any other. The family was tree-shopping nearly a week before Thanksgiving and, for the first time, they were picking their own tree instead of buying a pre-cut one.

 

It's nice to have home be a separate safe space away from the hospital, and whether we can have a gathering with family or not, I know we'll have our own little tree with the purple lights, and that'll be something small to look forward to, she said.

 

The real Christmas tree industry, which has been battling increased interest in artificial trees, is glad to see that more Americans appear to be flocking to fresh-cut evergreens this season, seeking a bright spot amid the virus's worsening toll.

11:09 PM

Ladakh records 5 more Covid deaths, 109 fresh cases

Five more deaths due to Covid-19 pushed Ladakh's toll to 113, while 109 fresh cases were reported on Friday, officials said.

 

All the new deaths were reported from Leh, taking the district's Covid-19 death toll to 72, while Kargil has recorded 41 fatalities so far, the officials said.

 

The union territory's caseload has reached 8,228 and the number of active cases stands at 813 - 700 in Leh and 113 in Kargil.

10:08 PM

West Bengal's Covid-19 death toll mounts to 8,270 with 46 more fatalities

10:07 PM

Over 800 new Covid-19 cases in Himachal, 13 more die

Thirteen more patients succumbed to Covid-19 in Himachal Pradesh, bringing the death toll from the pandemic to 603, while 830 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 38,328 in the state, official data showed.

 

Seven new deaths linked to the novel coronavirus were reported from Shimla, two from Kangra and one each from Kinnaur, Hamirpur, Lahaul-Spiti and Solan, according to the state Health Department data.

9:54 PM

Ahmedabad sees 353 Covid-19 cases, 11 deaths; 356 recover

Ahmedabad district's Covid-19 tally increased by 353 in the last 24 hours to reach 49,063, while 11 people died and 356 were discharged during this period, an official said on Friday.

 

The district's toll has now reached 2,026, he added.

9:25 PM

1,074 new coronavirus cases in Mumbai, 17 deaths

Mumbai reported more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases on the third day in a row on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) said.

The city reported 1,074 new cases during the day, taking the tally to 2,80,811, while the death toll rose to 10,756 with 17 fresh fatalities, the BMC said.

The city had recorded 1,144 new cases on November 25 and 1,147 cases on November 26.

 

9:24 PM

Prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Fakhrizadeh assassinated: Report

An Iranian nuclear scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret atomic weapons programme was assassinated near Tehran on Friday, Iranian state media reported.Mohsen Fakhrizadeh died of injuries in hospital after armed assassins fired on his car, Iranian media reported.

 

Fakhrizadeh has long been described by Western, Israeli and Iranian exile foes of Iran's clerical rulers as a leader of a covert atomic bomb programme halted in 2003. Iran has long denied seeking to weaponise nuclear energy.

9:11 PM

Schools in Mizoram to remain closed till year end to prevent spread of coronavirus

9:00 PM

3,093 new coronavirus cases in Rajasthan, 18 more die

Rajasthan recorded 18 more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Friday, taking the COVID-19 death toll in the state to 2,255, according to a health department bulletin. The state also reported 3,093 fresh cases that brought the infection count to 2,60,040 on Friday. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 28,183. According to the bulletin, 2,29,602 people have been discharged after treatment till now.

 

The death from the pandemic stands at 426 in state capital Jaipur, followed by 230 in Jodhpur, 181 in Ajmer, 160 in Bikaner, 133 in Kota, 103 in Bharatpur, 90 in Udaipur and 85 in Pali.

 

Of the fresh COVID-19 cases, 643 were recorded in Jaipur, 531 in Jodhpur, 290 in Ajmer, 241 in Kota, 147 in Alwar, 127 in Udaipur, 104 in Bikaner, 101 in Bhilwara, 89 in Bharatpur, 88 in Nagaur, besides cases reported in other districts of the state.

8:47 PM

Tamil Nadu records 1,442 new coronavirus cases, 12 deaths

Tamil Nadu on Friday logged 1,442 new COVID-19 cases, taking the infection count to 7,77,616, while 12 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 11,681. Recoveries continued to outnumber the fresh cases with 1,494 people being discharged from health care facilities, pushing the aggregate to 7,54,826, a health department bulletin said.

 

Active cases in the state stood at 11,109.

 

A total of 61,610 samples were tested today, aggregating to 1,18,64,177 specimens examined so far. The State has been witnessing a decline in new cases and since November 13 daily new infections were below 2,000. Two districts, including the State capital, logged cases in triple digits today with Chennai adding 392 and Coimbatore 145, while the rest were scattered across other districts.

8:31 PM

199 new coronavirus cases in UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar; tally 22,310

Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 199 new COVID-19 cases that pushed the district's infection tally to 22,310 on Friday. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the district came down to 1,282 from 1,285 the previous day, according to the data released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period. The active case count in Gautam Buddh Nagar is the fourth highest in the state.

 

On the bright side, 202 more patients got discharged during the period with the overall recoveries reaching 20,947, the fifth highest in the state.

 

With the death toll at 81, the district has a mortality rate of 0.36 per cent. The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients reached 93.89 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of active cases in Uttar Pradesh rose to 25,639 from 25,422 on Thursday, while the overall recoveries reached 5,04,411 and the death toll linked to COVID-19 climbed to 7,697 on Friday, the data showed.

8:10 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 6,185 new cases in Maharashtra; state tally 1,808,550

Maharashtra's COVID-19 case tally on Friday reached 18,08,550 as 6,185 fresh infections were recorded. The state also reported 85 fatalities during the day, taking the COVID-19 death toll to 46,898. On the other hand, 4,089 patients were discharged from hospitals after treatment, taking the tally of recovered patients to 16,72,627. There are now 87,969 active coronavirus patients in Maharashtra.

 

Mumbai city reported 1,074 new cases, which pushed its caseload to 2,80,818, while its death toll rose to 10,757 with 17 fatalities being recorded on Friday.

 

The state has so far conducted 1,06,35,600 tests. Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 18,08,550, New cases: 6,185, Death toll: 46,898, Discharged: 16,72,627, Active cases: 87,969, People tested so far: 1,06,35,600.

7:59 PM

Nearly 4,000 fresh coronavirus cases in Kerala push tally to 587,707

Kerala's COVID-19 tally touched 5,87,707 on Friday with the addition of 3,966 fresh cases while the toll rose to 2,171 with 23 deaths. A total of 4,544 people recovered from the disease, taking the total number of those cured in the state to5,21,522, state Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

 

Currently, 63,885 patients were undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in the state.

 

"Out of the total cases today, 3,348 were cases of local transmission and the source of infection was unknown for 488. Of those diagnosed, 81 have arrived from outside the state. There were 49 health workers among the infected," she said. In a release, the Minister said 39,108 samples were tested and the test positivity rate is 10.14 per cent.

7:39 PM

Covid-19 LIVE: ICMR nod for CCMB dry swab testing for coronavirus

The Indian Council of Medical Research has approved a dry swab RNA- extraction-free testing method for the COVID-19 virus developed by CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, CCMB said on Friday. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an important macromolecule that is present in all biological cells. In the conventional testing method, nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal swab samples collected by sample collection centres are transported to testing centres, sometimes even hundreds of kilometres away.

 

The samples are generally placed in a liquid called Viral Transport Medium (VTM).

 

To avoid leakage, they are packed heavily that adds on to sample processing times at both the sample collection and testing centres. Despite this, there are leakages from samples, which render those batches untestable and unsafe in handling.

6:59 PM

Centre in SC blames Delhi govt for rise in Covid-19 cases, says no steps taken despite exhortations

The Centre on Friday blamed Delhi government for rising COVID-19 cases in the national capital and said that despite repeated exhortations it did not take steps to enhance testing capacity, particularly for RT-PCR, which remained static at around 20,000 tests for a long time.

 

The Centre said that Delhi government was well aware that the confluence of winter, festival season and pollution were likely to witness a surge in cases and this foreknowledge ought to have led to strict enforcement and Information, Education and Communication (IEC) measures being instituted well in time but this was not done.

 

In its affidavit, filed before the top court, the Ministry of Home affairs (MHA), said while there were regular advertisements on achievements of Delhi Government, including on dengue prevention and control, no ads on COVID appropriate behaviour were to be seen. The people, at large, were also not apprised about this through regular outreach measures.

 

It said, That despite repeated exhortations in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases, the Delhi Government did not take steps to enhance testing capacity, particularly for RT-PCR, which remained static at around 20,000 RTPCR tests for a long time.

6:47 PM

Rajasthan reports 3,093 new coronavirus cases; state tally 260,040

6:41 PM

16 mn Brazilian Covid patients' personal info leaked online: Report

Healthcare records and personal information of 16 million Covid-19 patients in Brazil were found exposed online. The treasure trove of data got leaked after a hospital employee uploaded on open source code repository GitHub a spreadsheet containing key information such as usernames, passwords, and access keys to sensitive government systems, ZDNet reported on Thursday.

 

Among those affected by the leak are Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, seven government ministers, and the governors of 17 Brazilian states, said the report.

 

Besides names of patients, addresses and ID information, the exposed database also contained sensitive healthcare records including medical history and medication regimes.

5:57 PM

With 594 new cases, Odisha's coronavirus tally reaches 317,239

Odisha reported 594 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total tally of cases in the state to 3,17,239 till Thursday. The total number of Coronavirus cases in the state include 308839 recoveries and 6629 active cases. Fourteen patients succumbed due to the virus in the past 24 hours, according to the Health Department of Odisha.

 

In terms of district-wise cases on Thursday, Khurda witnessed the most number of cases at 56, followed by Sundargarh (55), Cuttack (55), Balangir (42), Mayurbhanj (42), Angul (37), Puri ( 37), Balasore (34), Jharsuguda (27) Nuapada (25), Jagatsinghpur (24), Kalahandi (20), Keonjhar (19), Bargarh (14), Sambalpur (17), Kendrapada (16), and Bhadrak (11).

5:37 PM

Classes to resume in medical colleges of West Bengal from December 1

5:22 PM

Around 83% of Indian workforce nervous to go back to office without Covid-19 vaccine: Survey

Around 83 per cent of employees in India are still nervous about going back to the office as there is no vaccine, according to a survey by IT company Atlassian. From an organisational perspective, 88 per cent of Indian employees believed their company was already well prepared for returning to the office, while 78 per cent of the workforce in India were annoyed that it took a pandemic to allow them to work from home, the survey found.

 

The survey, conducted in October, found that around 86 per cent of employees in India thought the members of their team feel closer to each other now and 75 per cent thought their team worked better together compared to pre-COVID-19.

 

"The research findings point to how the 'new normal' will shape work, relationships and collaboration in the future. These are the voices of real people facing real complexities," Dinesh Ajmera, site lead and head of engineering (Bengaluru) at Atlassian, said in a statement.

4:44 PM

2,366 fresh coronavirus cases take Uttar Pradesh's tally to 537,747

The COVID-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 7,697 on Friday with 23 more fatalities, while 2,366 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 5,37,747, a senior official here said.

 

"In the past 24 hours, 2,366 fresh cases have been reported in the state, which has 25,639 active cases while 5,04,411 people have been treated and discharged," Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters.

 

He said the death toll in the state has risen to 7,697 while the total number of cases has gone up to 5,37,747. Among the 25,639 active cases in the state, 12,455 are in home isolation, 2,281 are undergoing treatment in private hospitals and the rest are in government hospitals, where they are getting treatment free of cost, Prasad said.

 

On Thursday, over 1,83,557 COVID-19 tests -- the highest in a day so far -- were conducted in the state, taking the total number of tests to over 1.88 crore, Prasad said.

4:16 PM

Delhi has infrastructure to inoculate entire city population when Covid-19 vaccine is out: Satyendar Jain

The Delhi Government has the infrastructure and capacity to inoculate the entire population of Delhi as soon as the COVID-19 vaccination is out, claimed Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday.

 

"In Delhi, three times testing is being done as compared to the rest of the country. We have the infrastructure and capacity to innoculate the entire population of Delhi as soon as the vaccination is out," said Jain in a daily press briefing.

 

"Do not worry about the storage of the vaccine. There has been a decline in the positive ratio in Delhi after November 7. The new cases have not crossed the 7,000-mark for one week, it is also a positive indication," he added.

 

Jain had on Thursday said the COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital has come down to 8.5 per cent in the last three weeks.

3:56 PM

Covid-19: Only women, no children allowed in Mumbai's local trains

Amid a continued surge of COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, the Railways today reiterated that children will not be allowed on local trains and only women will be allowed to board these.

 

"Railway Board has only permitted the ladies passengers to travel in local trains during the stipulated hours over Mumbai Metropolitan region," the directive issued by DRM/MMCT stated.

 

The decision came after it was noticed that a large number of women passengers were seen travelling with children in the trains.

3:12 PM

Five coronavirus patients die in Gujarat hospital fire; SC takes note

Five coronavirus patients died after a fire broke out in the ICU of a designated COVID-19 hospital at Rajkot in Gujarat on Friday. The Supreme Court took cognizance of the fire incident and sought a report from Gujarat government on the issue. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said 26 patients at the hospital were rescued and shifted to other facilities.

 

The fire broke out around 12.30 am in the ICU ward located on the first floor of the four-storey Uday Shivanand Hospital in Anand Bungalow Chowk area, where around 31 patients were admitted, Patel added.

 

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed grief over the incident and ordered a probe into it. He also announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each deceased. Rajkot Police Commissioner Manoj Agarwal said, "Out of the 11 coronavirus patients admitted to the ICU ward, five lost their lives in the fire, which was quickly brought under control before it could spread to other floors."

3:01 PM

Thirty-nine coronavirus positive cases so far in Sabarimala

As many as 39 people including pilgrims, police personnel and temple employees, have tested positive for coronavirus in Sabarimala so far since the Lord Ayyappa temple here was openedfor the annual pilgrimage season on November 16. According to Travancore Devaswom Board sources here, of the total positive cases, 27 were employees of various departments and all of them were shifted to the first line Covid-19 treatment centres immediately.

 

All necessary precautionary measures had been taken at the shrine premises and base camps adhering to Covid-19 guidelines.

 

Four employees of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) including two temporary staff are among those who have been tested positive during the period. Two employees of the police mess here were tested positive on Thursday.

2:44 PM

PM to visit Zydus Cadila's Covid-19 vaccine development centre in Ahmedabad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit pharma major Zydus Cadila's plant near Ahmedabad on Saturday to get information about the development of its COVID-19 vaccine, Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Friday. Zydus Cadila's plant is situated at Changodar industrial area near Ahmedabad city.

 

The drug maker had earlier announced that the phase-I clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, ZyCoV-D, has been completed and it has commenced phase-II clinical trials from August.

 

"PM Narendra Modi will be on a brief visit of Gujarat on Saturday, during which, he will visit Zydus Cadila's facility to get first-hand information about the progress made by the company so far in terms of development of vaccine against coronavirus," Patel said.

 

An official said that the prime minister is likely arrive at the plant around 9.30 am.

2:20 PM

PM Modi will visit Serum Institute of India in Pune tomorrow to review Covid-19 vaccine production