Coronavirus LIVE: India's active caseload drops below 250,000 mark

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,938,854, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 918,544, Andhra Pradesh 882,612, Tamil Nadu 818,935, and Kerala 765,924

3:13 AM

Nine new cases take Sikkim's Covid-19 tally to 5,920

At least nine more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Sikkim, raising the tally in the state to 5,920, an official said on Sunday.

All the fresh cases were reported from East Sikkim district, he said.
 

Sikkim now has 506 active cases, while 94 have migrated to other states and 5,190 patients recovered from the disease so far, the official said.

The Covid-19 death toll remained at 129 as no new fatality was reported.
 

The Himalayan state conducted 146 sample tests for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of such clinical examinations to 69,260.
 

1:37 AM

Delhi records 424 new Covid-19 cases, lowest in over seven months

Delhi recorded 424 fresh Covid-19 cases, the lowest in over seven months, and 14 fatalities on Sunday, even as the positivity rate slipped to 0.62 per cent, authorities said.
 

The infection tally in the city stands at over 6.26 lakh and the death toll linked to the pandemic rose to 10,585, they said.
 

The 424 new cases came out the 68,759 tests conducted the previous day, including 39,217 RT-PCR tests and 29,542 rapid antigen tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
 

Delhi had recorded 494 cases on Saturday while the positivity rate had stood at 0.73 per cent.
 

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain tweeted on Saturday that the positivity rate had been below one per cent for the past 11 days, and fresh Covid-19 cases were the lowest since May 17.
 

From December 21-23, the daily cases count had been below the 1000-mark. On December 21, 803 cases were reported; 939 on December 22 and 871 on December 23.
 

However, on December 24, 1,063 cases were recorded, dropping again to 758 on December 25 and 655 on December 26. On December 27, a total of 757 cases were recorded while on December 28, the daily cases count was 564, the lowest in the last five months.
 

On December 29 and 30, the city recorded 703 and 677 cases, respectively. On December 31, it reported 574 new cases and 585 on January 1.
 

The active cases tally on Sunday dropped to 5,044 from 5,342 the previous day.
 

The Sunday's bulletin said the total number of cases has climbed to 6,26,872.
 

According to it, out of the total number of 14,067 beds in Covid hospitals, 12,125 are vacant.
 

1:30 AM

At 3,Mumbai reports lowest Covid-19 deaths since March last year

Mumbai on Sunday reported three Covid-19 deaths, which are the lowest in a single day since March last year, city civic commissioner I S Chahal said.
 

In a statement, the city civic chief said the hard work of the Maharashtra governmentand teams of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is paying off.
 

"I congratulate the eminent citizens of Mumbai for their outstanding cooperation andsupport. A big salute to all the doctors & supporting frontline workers and the media who created great positive awareness which has made this possible," Chahal stated.
 

With three new fatalities, the overall death toll in Mumbai has reached 11,135.
 

The city reported 581 new coronavirus positive cases during the day, taking the overall case count to 2,95,241, the state government said in a release.

1:29 AM

160,000 health workers will be first to get Covid-19 vaccine in Punjab: Minister

Around 160,000 health workers in Punjab will receive a Covid-19 vaccine in the first phase, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on Sunday.
 

Principal Secretary (Health) Hussan Lal said the data regarding 1.60 lakh healthcare workers has already been uploaded on the CoWin portal -- an online platform for monitoring the delivery of Covid-19 vaccine.
 

Talking to reporters, Sidhu said, "...the vaccine which is coming will first be given to 1.60 lakh healthcare workers in the state." Giving details of the vaccination process, Lal said the vaccine will be given to about 70 lakh people in the state in a phased manner.
 

He said that after health workers, the vaccine will be administered to around three lakh frontline workers, including policemen, paramilitary forces, sanitation workers and disaster management volunteers.
 

Thereafter, the Principal Secretary (Health) said, people above 50 years and those aged below 50 with co-morbid conditions will be covered under the inoculation drive.
 

The Health minister said the Centre should provide Covid-19 vaccine to Punjab free of cost.
 

Sidhu further said Punjab is fully prepared for the vaccination drive.

1:26 AM

Bengal reports 896 new Covid-19 cases, 26 fresh fatalities

The Covid-19 death toll in West Bengal rose to 9,792 on Sunday with 26 more people succumbing to the disease, the health department said in a bulletin.

At least 896 fresh coronavirus cases pushed the tally to 5,54,975, it said.
 

According to the bulletin, 1,432 people were cured of the disease during the day, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,34,737.
 

The recovery rate among coronavirus patients in the state now stands at 96.35 per cent, while the percentage of positive cases, out of samples tested, stood at 7.70 per cent, it said.
 

Since Saturday, 32,256 samples have been tested in the state.
 

West Bengal now has 10,446 active cases, the bulletin said.

1:08 AM

Covid-19: S Africa to vaccinate 67% of population; healthcare workers 1st in line

South Africa plans to vaccinate about 40 million of its citizens with the Covid-19 vaccine in a phased rollout this year, with healthcare workers being first in line, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Sunday.
 

Mkhize was briefing the nation on the latest developments, together with leading advisers on the pandemic, amid growing concern about daily huge spikes in infections due to a new variant of the coronavirus.
 

"The only way of being able to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic is the provision of immunity through vaccination. We have been trying to follow what the best way is to deal with this. The vaccines will need to be made available quickly so that most of our citizens are covered by the end of the first year of rollout - this year.

“We knew early on that the only way to fight Covid-19 would be to achieve herd immunity through vaccination,” the minister said.
 

The priorities after healthcare workers would be the elderly and those with comorbidities, and people in overcrowded settings such as prisons, shelters and care homes.
 

Next in line would be people working in the hospitality and tourism industry; educational institutions; and essential workers, including police officers, miners, and those in the security, retail food industry, funeral, travel, and banking industries; as well as essential municipal and government services, all designed to address the crisis with as little harm to the economy as possible.
 

9:00 PM

ICMR says clinical trial data show Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is 'safe'

Hours after Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved restricted use in an emergency situation to Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Sunday said data generated through pre-clinical studies and various phases of clinical trial shows Covaxin is 'safe.'

8:32 PM

Logistics to be at core of next stage of battle against Covid, say experts

The domestic logistics sector is expected to continue at the core of the next stage of the battle against the virus in 2021 even as some easing in freight charges and container shortage, which hit the exports in the last quarter of the previous year, is also expected during the year, experts have said.

 

8:09 PM

Mexico to vaccinate all citizens over 60 by March, co-morbidity cases next

Mexico is planning to have everyone over 60 years old vaccinated by late March, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said in a video address.

The country has already received over 53,000 vaccine doses and will have 1.4 million by the end of the month to vaccinate its medical staff.
 

7:40 PM

Two vaccine jabs 28 days apart, antibodies form 2 weeks after second: AIIMS Director

In a video issued by the Health Ministry, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) answered commonly asked questions regarding the dosage of the vaccine saying that two doses of the vaccine will have to be taken 28 days apart and protective levels of antibodies generally would develop two weeks after the second dose.
 

He further informed that after all doses of the vaccine are administered, a QR-code based certificate will also be sent to the mobile number of the beneficiary and recommended that after vaccination, patients should take rest for at least 30 minutes.

7:16 PM

Health workers, police to get Covid-19 shots on priority in Maharashtra

Health workers, including paramedics, doctors, and police personnel will be administered a Covid-19 vaccine on priority in Maharashtra, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Sunday and added the government will take steps to prevent black marketing of the vaccines.

 

6:45 PM

It will make every Indian proud: Kiran Bedi on nod for Covid vaccines use

Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi has expressed happiness over two indigenous Covid-19 vaccines being approved for emergency use.

In her Twitter handle, the former IPS officer said,"It will make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India."

6:17 PM

Vaccines nod 'turning point' in India's fight against Covid: NITI Aayog

Terming theapproval given to two coronavirus vaccines for emergency use as"turning point" in India's fight against Covid-19, Niti Aayog member V K Paul on Sunday saidthe speed with which scientists and the industry came together to meet this challenge epitomizes the spirit and potential of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat'.

India's drug regulator DCGI on Sunday approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

5:49 PM

Coronavirus found on multiple auto part packaging samples in China

Multiple auto part packaging samples have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in various parts of China after a company engaged in auto part sales reported a confirmed Covid-19 case.

In the city of Jincheng, north China's Shanxi Province, the local center for disease control and prevention detected the virus on auto tire packaging, according to the city's Covid-19 prevention and control office late on Saturday.

The office then activated an emergency response. Personnel who came in close contact with the goods have been quarantined and all have tested negative. Related goods have been sealed.

 

5:10 PM

Delhi reports the lowest number of coronavirus cases in over seven months

Delhi recorded 424 fresh Covid-19 cases, the lowest in over seven months, and14 more fatalities due to the disease on Sunday, even as the positivity rate slipped to 0.62 per cent, authorities said.

The Covid-19 case tally in the city stands at over 6.26 lakh and the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 10,585, they said.

Delhi recorded 494 cases on Saturday while the positivity rate was 0.73 per cent.