Coronavirus LIVE: 5,182 new cases, 115 deaths in Maharashtra in past 24 hrs

Covid-19 live updates: At 1,832,176, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 887,667, Andhra Pradesh 869,412, Tamil Nadu 784,747, and Kerala 614,673

2:07 AM

Mexican presidents says Trump helped him get Covid vaccine

Mexico's president said Thursday he plans to give the military a role in distributing coronavirus vaccines, which he says U.S. President Donald Trump helped him get. President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador said that on his visit to Washington in July he spoke with Trump and Vice President Mike Pence and they helped facilitate so that Mexico was taken into account and could get the vaccine. Lpez Obrador suggested Mexico will probably wait until U.S. regulators approve the Pfizer vaccine later this month before giving it the go-ahead in Mexico.

On Wednesday, Mexico's Health Department signed a contract for 34.4 million doses of that vaccine, and said it hoped to receive 250,000 doses in December. Each person requires two doses. The president said the government is discussing with the army and the navy, and we are defining the whole operation to distribute the vaccine. Lpez Obrador has given the military an unprecedented array of responsibilities in his two years in office, including distributing medical supplies and guarding hospitals.

2:05 AM

Dr. Fauci says UK rushed approval of Covid vaccine

Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, on Thursday said the UK was not as rigorous as the US health authorities in its COVID-19 vaccine approval process. The UK on Wednesday became the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for the coronavirus. "The UK did not do it as carefully," he told Fox News. "If you go quickly and you do it superficially, people are not going to want to get vaccinated." "We really scrutinise the data very carefully to guarantee to the American public that this is a safe and efficacious vaccine," he said.

We have the gold standard of a regulatory approach with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The UK did not do it as carefully and they got a couple of days ahead," the 79-year-old expert said. The Pfizer/BioNTech is the fastest ever vaccine to go from concept to reality, taking only 10 months to follow the same developmental steps that normally span a decade. The UK has defended its approval process, and said the jab is safe and effective.

Dr June Raine, the head of the UK medicines regulator, on Wednesday said that "no corners had been cut" in vetting the jab. The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) reviewed preliminary data on the vaccine trials dating back to June. "No vaccine would be authorised for supply in the UK unless the expected standards of safety, quality and efficacy are met," the regulator said.

1:59 AM

Andhra records 664 more Covid cases, tally reaches 870,000

Andhra Pradesh reported 664 new Covid positive cases, increasing the state's tally to 8.7 lakh, even as 835 more patients recovered from the virus to outnumber infections on Thursday. Chittoor and Krishna districts accounted for the highest number infections in the past 24 hours, 105 each, followed by Visakhapatnam (73), Guntur (72) and West Godavari (70). Among other places, East Godavari (67), Prakasam (40), Nellore (34), Anantapur (29), Kadapa (21), Kurnool and Vizianagaram (19 each) and Srikakulam (10).

With the new additions, East Godavari continues to shoulder the highest number of cases at 1.22 lakh. On Wednesday, 835 more patients recovered from the disease to increase the total number of recoveries to 8.56 lakh, narrowing the gap between total number of infections and recoveries. Of the 8.7 lakh cases, active cases have plummeted to 6,742. With 63,049 more Covid tests, the total number of tests crossed the one crore mark to reach 1.02 crore.

1:59 AM

Karnataka logs 1,446 new Covid cases; 894 recover

Karnataka registered 1,446 new Covid cases while 894 recovered in a day, taking its Covid tally to 8,89,113, including 24,689 active cases on Wednesday, said the state health bulletin on Thursday. "With 894 patients discharged during the day, 8,52,584 recovered across the southern state so far, while 11,821 died of the infection, including 13 in the last 24 hours," said the bulletin.

As the epicentre of the pandemic, Bengaluru reported 758 fresh cases, taking its tally to 3,71,962, including 18,938 active cases, while 3,48,861 recovered, with 208 during the day. With six succumbing to the infection, the city's death toll rose to 4,162 since the pandemic broke in the state on March 8. Of the 299 patients in the intensive care units (ICUs), 163 are in Bengaluru Urban hospitals, 14 in Hassan, 12 each in Mysuru and Tumakuru, 11 in Gadag and 10 in Mandya district.

Out of 1,08,685 tests conducted in the day, 18,683 were through rapid-antigen detection and 90,002 through RT-PCR method. "Positivity rate was 1.33 per cent and case fatality rate 0.89 per cent for the day across the state," added the bulletin.

1:00 AM

Assam reported 165 new Covid-19 cases, 177 discharges

10:49 PM

Jharkhand reported 233 Covid-19 cases, 208 recoveries

10:48 PM

Chandigarh Covid-19 case count rises by 1,555, death toll by 22

Chhattisgarh on Thursday reported 1,555 fresh coronavirus positive cases and 22 fatalities, taking the total count to 2,42,418 and toll to 2,941, a health official said. The number of recoveries reached 2,20,177 after 174 people were discharged from hospitals, while 1,599 others completed their home isolation during the day. This took the number of active cases in the state to 19,300, he said.

Raipur district reported 229 new cases, taking its total count to 47,177, including 667 deaths. Durg district recorded 117 new cases, Korba 112, Raigarh 112, Bilaspur 109 and Rajnandgaon 101, among other districts, he said. "Of the latest fatalities, eight took place on Thursday, nine on Wednesday while five had taken place earlier but were added to the tally on Thursday," he added. Chhattisgarh's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 2,42,418, new cases 1,555, deaths 2,941, recovered 2,20,177, active cases 19,300, people tested so far 26,67,762.

10:30 PM

LIVE: Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai says state govt has no intention of imposing night curfew again in view of Covid-19 situation

9:55 PM

582 fresh Covid-19 cases take J-K's tally to 111,712

Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 582 fresh COVID-19 cases which took its tally to 1,11,712, while 10 more fatalities pushed the union territory's death toll to 1,718, officials said. Of the fresh cases, 310 were from the Jammu division and 272 from the Kashmir division, they said. Jammu district recorded the maximum fresh cases at 142, followed by 126 in Srinagar, according to the officials.

The number of active cases in the union territory stands at 5,104, while 419 more patients recovered from the infection. So far, 1,04,890 patients have recovered, the officials said. Of the 10 fresh deaths, five each were reported from Jammu and Kashmir regions, they said.

9:33 PM

West Bengal reports 3,246 new Covid-19 cases, 3,257 recoveries

8:59 PM

Covid-19 vaccine may become reality soon, but students' loss of education cannot be compensated: Sisodia

The COVID-19 pandemic will be a thing of the past when the vaccine becomes a reality, but the loss of education suffered by students cannot be compensated, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday.

 

Sisodia, who is also Delhi's education minister, said while efforts were being made to provide online education as schools remain closed, providing access to these classes to students who lack internet facilities or devices continues to be a challenge.

 

"Soon, the corona vaccine will be released around the world, and this pandemic would be a matter of history. But the loss of education that our students are facing today cannot be compensated by any vaccine. To minimise this loss, we are consistently working on solutions," Sisodia said at an event, where tablets were distributed among students of Class 11 of Delhi government schools.

 

"Due to the closure of schools, efforts were made to provide online education in Delhi government schools. However, it continues to pose a challenge to the students who lack access to the internet or devices to study," he added.

8:52 PM

Maharashtra reports 5,182 new coronavirus positive cases

8:41 PM

Hackers targeting Covid-19 vaccine cold chain through phishing, warns IBM

Tech giant IBM on Thursday said its team has uncovered a global phishing campaign targeting organisations associated with a Covid-19 cold chain. The cold chain plays a very important role in vaccine supply chain by ensuring the safe preservation of vaccines in temperature-controlled environments during their storage and transportation.

 

This calculated operation targeting organisations linked to Covid-19 cold chain started in September, IBM said in a blog post.

 

The Covid-19 phishing campaign spanned across six countries and targeted organisations likely associated with Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance's Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP) programme. While the identity of the attackers could not be determined definitively, the precision targeting of executives and key global organisations hold the potential hallmarks of nation-state tradecraft, IBM said. READ ON...

8:20 PM

Tamil Nadu adds 1,416 new coronavirus cases; 14 fatalities

Tamil Nadu on Thursday reported 1,416 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall infection count to 7,86,163, while 14 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 11,747. As many as 1,413 people were discharged from healthcare facilities after getting cured, taking the aggregate to 7,63,428. The number of active cases in Tamil Nadu stood at 10,988.

 

Two districts, including the State capital, logged cases in triple digits with Chennai adding 382 and Coimbatore 140, while the rest were scattered across other districts.

 

Chennai continued to top the list of cases with 2,16,496 infections out of more than 7.86 lakh in the state. The state capital also topped in the number of fatalities, accounting for 3,863 of the total. Six districts have added new cases in single digits, while 32 districts reported zero fatalities.

7:55 PM

SC asks Delhi govt about mechanism to cross-check Covid-19 data

The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Delhi government as to whether there is any mechanism to cross-check the veracity of COVID-19 data, after it said that positivity rate of the virus in the national capital has come down as per the latest figures.

 

The apex court was told by Delhi government that it has taken earnest steps to deal with the COVID-19 situation and issues such as availability of ICU beds, testing, cremation of those who died of the virus and fire safety measures in hospitals are being monitored at the highest level.

 

When the Delhi government's counsel referred to the latest data regarding number of tests being conducted and the positivity as well as the recovery rate, a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked, These figures which you are giving, whether there is any mechanism to cross-check these figures?.

 

The top court was hearing a matter in which it had taken cognisance on the issue of proper treatment of COVID-19 patients and dignified handling of dead bodies in hospitals.