Coronavirus LIVE updates: Containment zones rise to over 4,550 in Delhi

Coronavirus update: US is the worst-hit country with 12,072,560 coronavirus cases, followed by India, which has 9,004,365 cases, Brazil (5,912,903), France (2,065,138), Russia (1,991,998)

2:01 AM

Oil rises about 1%, posts third week of gains on Covid vaccine hopes

Oil prices rose about 1% higher on Friday and posted a third consecutive weekly rise, buoyed by successful COVID-19 vaccine trials, while renewed lockdowns in several countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus capped gains. Brent crude futures rose 76 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $44.96 a barrel.

 

The more active U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) January crude contract gained 52 cents, or 1.2% to $42.42 a barrel. The WTI contract for December , which expired on Friday, rose 41 cents, or 1%, to settle at $42.15 a barrel. Both benchmarks gained about 5% this week.

 

Prospects for effective COVID-19 vaccines have bolstered oil markets this week. Pfizer Inc said it will apply to U.S. health regulators on Friday for emergency use authoritization of its vaccine, the first such application in a major step toward providing protection against the new coronavirus. "Despite the fact that in reality it will take time for a global vaccine campaign to be implemented, time during which oil demand will suffer, positive news are breaking daily about the vaccine deliveries," said Bjornar Tonhaugen, Rystad Energy's head of oil markets.

1:59 AM

US averaging 1,300 deaths per day, alarming spike in Covid cases

Daily coronavirus deaths in the US are now averaging more than 1,300 - the worst toll recorded since May this year when New York became the original epicentre of the pandemic. More than 253,000 Americans are dead, morgues are running out of room in several states, and total confirmed infections have blown past 11.7 million. The single biggest case count came on Thursday - nearly 188,000. More than 80,000 are hospitalised.

In Texas, the border county of El Paso has job postings for morgue workers and is offering nearly $30 per hour for what it calls "emotionally taxing" work. Refrigerated trucks have been pressed into service as morgues run out of space for the dead. Schools are shuttering and going all virtual, colleges are asking students to go home, the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention is asking Americans not to travel and suddenly, US health officials crawling out from under the furniture after Trump's loss at the ballot box are begging people to mask up.

1:52 AM

Kejriwal urges AAP leaders, workers to distribute masks for free

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged AAP leaders and workers to distribute masks free of cost to those not wearing it and described this as the best form of patriotism and service to humanity. The AAP national convener also urged other political parties to ask their volunteers to do the same.

"Dear AAP MLAs, MPs, councillors, volunteers. Go to public places n distribute free masks to those not wearing a mask. Today, this is the best deshbhakti n manav sewa. I urge all political parties also to ask their volunteers to do this. Lets join hands to stop spread of corona," he said in a tweet. Kejriwal also tweeted about the help he received from different quarters.

1:30 AM

Daily Covid-19 deaths in US reach highest level since May

The surging coronavirus is taking an increasingly dire toll across the US just as a vaccine appears at hand, with the country now averaging over 1,300 COVID-19 deaths per day the highest since the calamitous spring in and around New York City. The overall death toll has reached about 253,000, by far the highest in the world. Total confirmed infections have eclipsed more than 11.7 million, after the biggest one-day gain on record Thursday almost 188,000. And the number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 hit another all-time high at more than 80,000.

With health experts deeply afraid Thanksgiving travel and holiday gatherings next week will fuel the spread of the virus, many states and cities are imposing near-lockdowns or other restrictions. California ordered a 10 pm to 5 am curfew starting Saturday, covering 94% of the state's 40 million residents. The Texas border county of El Paso, where more than 300 people have died from COVID-19 since October, is advertising jobs for morgue workers capable of lifting bodies weighing 175 pounds or more. Officials are offering more than $27 an hour for work described as not only physically arduous but emotionally taxing as well.

 

1:29 AM

Russia reports 24,318 fresh Covid cases

Russia has reported 24,318 new Covid-19 cases, the country's Covid-19 response centre said. Russia's cumulative number of coronavirus cases has mounted to 2,039,926, including 35,311 deaths and 1,551,414 recoveries, the centre said in a statement.

Moscow reported most of the new cases with 6,902 infections, reaching a cumulative case count of 539,970, the centre said. So far, more than 71.2 million tests have been conducted in the country, Xinhua reported.

12:54 AM

S&P 500, Dow dip as spiking Covid-19 infections eclipse vaccine hopes

The S&P 500 and the Dow edged lower on Friday as investors headed into the weekend grappling with disappointing fiscal stimulus news and uncertain efforts to combat a spiraling COVID-19 pandemic with vaccines. Semiconductor stocks and other stay-at-home plays, which have thrived throughout the health crisis, helped keep the Nasdaq green. Throughout the week, investors whipsawed between economically-sensitive cyclical stocks and pandemic-resistant market leaders.

The S&P 500 and the Dow were on track to post marginal losses for the week, while the tech-laden Nasdaq appeared set to settle a bit higher than last Friday's close. "There's an ebb and flow to the market and the vaccine represents the hope," said Matthew Keator, managing partner at the Keator Group, a wealth management firm in Lenox, Massachusetts. "The time it will take to see it distributed and take effect reflects the reality of the situation. With the rising cases of the virus and the shutdowns at the state level that's something the market is paying close attention to."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced late Thursday that he would allow key pandemic-relief lending programs at the Federal Reserve to expire at the end of the year, saying the $455 billion allocated last spring under the CARES act should be returned to Congress to be reallocated as grants for small companies.

 

12:40 AM

COVID-19: Rajasthan Home Dept advises district administrations to impose Sec 144

Rajasthan Home Department on Friday advised district administrations across the state to impose restrictions under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure(CrPc) in view of rising cases of COVID-19 in the state. Rajasthan reported 2,762 new COVID-19 cases, 14 deaths, and 1,993 recoveries on Friday.

The total cases in the state have reached 2,37,669, including 20,923 active cases and 2,130 deaths.

12:07 AM

BMC restricts followers of Ambedkar to visit Chaityabhoomi on 6th Dec

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) restricts followers of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar to visit Chaityabhoomi on 6th December, in wake of Covid-19 pandemic.  There will be a live broadcast of programs from Chaityabhoomi this year.

12:03 AM

Covid-19: Night curfew in MP's five cities from Nov 21

In a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, a night curfew will be imposed in five cities of Madhya Pradesh- Indore, Bhopal, Gwalior, Ratlam and Vidisha- starting November 21, officials said on Friday. The curfew will be in force from 10 pm to 6 am, they said.

This was told during a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday evening to review the COVID-19 situation after a spurt in infection cases, especially in Indore and Bhopal. State health minister Prabhuram Choudhary, home minister Narottam Mishra and district collectors attended the meeting. During the meeting, Chouhan dismissed reports that his government planned to reimpose lockdown to control the coronavirus outbreak.

"No lockdown will be imposed in the state except in containment zones, but the use of mask will be strictly enforced. A balance will be maintained so that neither the economy gets affected nor the coronavirus situation gets out of control," a public relations department said quoting the chief minister.

11:41 PM

Hong Kong bans AI flights for 5th time as passengers test Covid-19 positive

Hong Kong has banned Air India flights from Delhi till December 3 after a few passengers on its flight earlier this week tested positive for COVID-19 post-arrival, a senior government official said on Friday. This is the fifth time Air India's flights from India have been banned by the Hong Kong government for bringing passengers who tested positive for the viral infection after arrival.

 

The previous bans on the airline's Delhi-Hong Kong flights were from August 18 to August 31, September 20 to October 3 and October 17 to October 30, and on its Mumbai-Hong Kong flights during October 28-November 10.

11:39 PM

Gujarat sees highest daily tally of Covid cases, at 1,420

As Ahmedabad and some other cities of the state went under night curfew, Gujarat on Friday saw the highest daily spike of coronavirus cases, at 1,420, taking its tally to 1,94,402, while the death toll rose to 3,837 as seven more succumbed. The rising cases of coronavirus were mostly attributed to the Diwali festival. In November so far, there have been 21,458 cases at an average of 1,073 cases daily.

With the rising cases, people were seeing queuing up to get themselves tested at various centres set up by the authorities. Meanwhile, 1,040 patients were discharged, taking the total to 1,77,515, even as the number of active cases rose above 13,000 to 13,050. hmedabad saw its tally climbing over the 300 mark after almost five months, with 327, while Surat saw 246 cases, Vadodara 155, Rajkot 137 and Gandhinagar 86.

11:38 PM

1,686 new coronavirus cases, 2,173 recoveries in Tamil Nadu

1,686 new coronavirus cases, 2,173 recoveries in Tamil Nadu, tally 7.67 lakh, active cases 13,404; toll 11,568 with 18 more deaths: Health Dept

11:15 PM

Himachal Pradesh reports 588 new Covid-19 positive cases

Himachal Pradesh reports 588 new Covid-19 positive cases, 726 recoveries, and 11 death cases in the last 24 hours. Total cases in the state rise to 32,785, including 6,803 active cases, 25,432 recoveries & 491 deaths.

10:50 PM

10:48 PM

Night curfew to be imposed in Surat, Vadodara & Rajkot cities of Gujarat from tomorrow: Deputy CM Nitin Patel.

Clinical workers test for the virus at a government-run dispensary in New Delhi. Bloomberg

10:17 PM

West Bengal's Covid-19 death toll climbs to 7,923 with 50 fatalities; 3,626 fresh cases push tally to 4,49,131: Health Department

A health worker in personal protective equipment (PPE) collects a swab sample from a man at the Sadar Bazar market to conduct tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Delhi on Wednesday.

10:08 PM

Delhi records 118 Covid-19 deaths; 6,608 new cases take infection tally to 517,000: Authorities

9:59 PM

eVIN system being repurposed for tracking Covid vaccine delivery: Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said a digital platform used in the Universal Immunisation Programme was being repurposed to digitally track movement of stocks of COVID-19 vaccines, once available, and also trace those who will receive the shots thus ensuring last-mile vaccine delivery.
 

 

Interacting with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) via a video link, he mentioned that under Mission Indradhanush, the government has already ramped up its immunisation capability with an elaborate cold storage chain for inoculating children from 12 diseases.

9:49 PM

PM Modi holds meeting to review vaccine strategy, approvals, procurement

Held a meeting to review India’s vaccination strategy and the way forward. Important issues related to progress of vaccine development, regulatory approvals and procurement were discussed, said PM Narendra Modi. He added that he reviewed various issues like prioritisation of population groups, reaching out to healthcare workers, cold-chain Infrastructure augmentation, adding vaccinators, and tech platform for vaccine roll-out.

 

9:22 PM

India's Bharat Biotech offers Brazil potential Covid-19 vaccine

India's Bharat Biotech this week offered Brazil a Covid-19 vaccine that is in late-stage clinical trials and a possible technology transfer partnership, a company executive said on Friday. The private pharmaceutical company based in the southern city of Hyderabad is developing a whole-virion inactivated vaccine called Covaxin that could be licensed by the second quarter of 2021.

 

"The data looks really good in terms of reduction and also prevention of disease, and we started our Phase 3 clinical trials this week," Executive Director Sai Prasad told Reuters.

9:01 PM

Tamil Nadu records 1,686 new coronavirus cases and 18 deaths

Tamil Nadu recorded 1,686 new COVID-19 cases and 18 deaths, pushing the infection count to 7,66,677 and the toll to 11,568, the health department said on Friday. As many as 2,173 people were discharged as the cumulative number of those cured rose to 7,41,705, a bulletin said. Active cases in the state, which has been on the decline, stood at 13,404. The state has been recording less than 2,000 new cases since November 13.

On Friday, the state capital logged 489 new cases, Chengalpet 125, Coimbatore 147 and Kancheepuram 102 while the remaining was scattered across other districts.

 

Perambalur district, which recently recorded 'zero' fresh cases, reported one COVID-19 positive case. Seven districts recorded fresh infections in single digits, the bulletin said. Of the 7.66 plus infections reported in the state, Chennai accounted for 2,11,084 till date.

8:54 PM

Maharashtra reports 5,640 new coronavirus cases, tally rises to 17,68,695

Maharashtra's coronavirus tally on Friday climbed to 17,68,695 with the addition of 5,640 cases. The state reported 155 deaths during the day, which pushed the fatality count to 46,511, he said.

 

A total of 6,945 patients were discharged on Friday after treatment, taking the tally of recovered patients to 16,42,916. With this, the number of active patients in the state reached 78,272.

 

Mumbai city reported 1,031 new coronavirus positive cases on Friday, which pushed its overall tally to 2,73,486, while its death toll rose to 10,639 with 12 fatalities during the day. The state has so far conducted 1,00,35,665 tests. Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 17,68,695; new cases: 5,640; death toll: 46,511; discharged: 16,42,916; active cases: 78,272; people tested so far: 1,00,35,665.

8:44 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Phase-3 trial of Covaxin begins in Odisha institute

The third phase human trial of Covaxin, the much-awaited indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine, has begun at an institute here, a senior official said on Friday.

 

The vaccine was administered to two recruits on Thursday at the Preventive and Therapeutic Clinical Trial Unit (PTCTU) at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, the only institute in Odisha chosen by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the human trial of the vaccine, E.Venkata Rao, the principal investigator in Covaxin human trial said.

 

The indigenous vaccine, which is being developed by Bharat Biotech and ICMR, has received approval of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for initiating the third phase trial. The trial is being conducted at 21 selected medical institutes across the country.

8:40 PM

Maharashtra reports 5,640 new coronavirus cases, tally rises to 17,68,695

8:39 PM

1,031 new coronavirus cases, 553 recoveries/discharges and 13 deaths today in Mumbai

8:31 PM

Rs 2,000 fine in Delhi for spitting in public places, quarantine rules violation and not maintaining social distancing

8:30 PM

661 new coronavirus cases, four deaths in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Friday recorded 661 new coronavirus cases, raising the infection count to 1,05,376, while four more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,622. Of the fresh cases, 253 were reported from the Jammu division and 408 from the Kashmir division, they said.

 

The officials said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 169 cases, followed by 98 in Jammu. There are 5,678 active cases now in the UT, while 98,076 patients have recovered. The UT reported four COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours -- two each from Jammu and Kashmir regions, the officials said.

8:22 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 1,781 new Covid-19 cases in Karnataka, 17 deaths

Karnataka reported 1,781 new cases of COVID-19 and 17 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 8,69,561 and the death toll to 11,621, the health department said on Friday.

 

The day also saw 2,181 patients getting discharged after recovery.

 

Out of 1,781 fresh cases reported on Friday, 1,067 cases were from Bengaluru urban alone. As of November 20 evening, cumulatively 8,69,561 COVID-19 positive cases have been confirmed in the state, which includes 11,621 deaths and 8,33,169 discharges, the health department said in its bulletin.

8:11 PM

No Covid-19 lockdown to be imposed in Madhya Pradesh: CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday rejected recent reports that the state government is mulling to impose lockdown again in the view of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chouhan cleared the air surrounding all speculations and said, "No lockdown to be imposed in the state."

 

With the coronavirus cases rising once again in the state, there were reports that the Madhya Pradesh government was considering announcing a fresh lockdown.

 

The state has reported 1,363 new cases and 14 deaths on Thursday, according to the State Health Department. Madhya Pradesh has so far reported a total of 1,88,018 cases of which 1,75,089 have recovered. A total of 3,129 people have lost their lives due to the deadly pandemic.

8:01 PM

Night curfew between 10 pm and 6 am from Nov 21 in five districts: Madhya Pradesh CM