Coronavirus LIVE: 30 vaccines in different stages of development in India

Coronavirus live update: At 17,84,361, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 874,555, Andhra Pradesh 862,758, Tamil Nadu 771,619 and Kerala 566,492

2:04 AM

Andhra Pradesh logs 1,000 new Covid cases, tally 863,000

Andhra Pradesh has registered 1,085 new Covid-19 cases, increasing the state's tally to 8.63 lakh, even as 1,447 more recoveries outnumbered fresh infections on Tuesday. Krishna district accounted for the highest number of infections in the past 24 hours at 224, followed by Chittoor (142), Guntur (126), East Godavari (116), Visakhapatnam (86), Kadapa (57), Nellore (50), Prakasam (42), Vizianagaram (37), Kurnool (31), Srikakulam (26) and Anantapur (10).

With the new additions, East Godavari continues to shoulder the highest number of cases at 1.21 lakh. Meanwhile, eight more people succumbed to the virus on Tuesday, raising the total number of Covid deaths in the state to 6,956. Chittoor district has witnessed the highest number of Covid deaths at 823. On Tuesday, 1,447 persons recovered from the virus to increase the total number of recoveries to 8.43 lakh, narrowing the gap between total infections and recoveries.

1:57 AM

UK Covid infection on decline, 11,299 new cases, down from 15,000 a day earlier

The coronavirus infection rate in the United Kingdom have been on a decline since November 19, with the country confirming 11,299 new cases over the past 24 hours, down from over 15,000 confirmed a day before, the Health Ministry's data showed on Tuesday. Last week, the UK was detecting some 20,000 cases a day on an average, and the number of daily-registered new cases started to drop since November 19, when the country confirmed nearly 23,000 cases.

Overall, the UK confirmed over 1.5 million COVID-19 cases and nearly 56,000 related fatalities. The coronavirus restrictions are in place until December 2, and the authorities have announced plans to replace the lockdown with targeted measures.

1:42 AM

Russian virus vaccine to cost less than $10 per dose abroad

Russia released new results Tuesday claiming its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective, and promised it would cost less on international markets than vaccines by some of its Western competitors. According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which bankrolled the development of the jab, Sputnik V will cost less than 10 USD per dose or less than USD 20 for the two doses needed to vaccinate one person on international markets. The vaccination will be free for Russians, the Fund said.

 

The two-shot jab, the fund promised in a statement, will be two or more times cheaper than those by Pfizer or Moderna, which cost about USD 20 and USD 15-25 per dose respectively, based on agreements the companies have struck to supply their vaccines to the US government. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the fund, told reporters Tuesday that over 1 billion doses of the vaccine are expected to be produced next year outside of Russia.

 

Russia drew international criticism for giving Sputnik V regulatory approval in early August, even though it was yet to complete advanced testing among tens of thousands of people, required to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine before it is given widely. An advanced study among 40,000 volunteers was announced two weeks after it received government approval.

1:34 AM

Global availability of Covid vaccine for public only by mid-2021: Moody's

While recent news about the high effectiveness of two coronavirus vaccines is a promising sign in the effort to combat the pandemic, a vaccine for Covid-19 will not be widely distributed before mid-2021, Moodys Investors Service said on Tuesday. "However, these developments do not change the assumption underpinning our economic forecasts that widespread, global availability of the vaccine to the general public is only likely by around mid-2021," Moody's said in a report.

It added that the recent positive news about the effectiveness of vaccines under development will do little to ease the immediate concern that the current rise in coronavirus cases across the US and Europe will dampen sentiments and economic momentum in these regions this quarter and the next. "Our baseline economic forecasts balance the downside risks of increasing infections and new lockdowns in the next two months, against the potential for widespread vaccinations over the next 12 months. If lockdowns are more severe than we expect, the negative effect on GDP could be offset if a coronavirus vaccine is available quicker and uptake is wider than we had expected," it added.

Although successful Phase 3 trials of vaccines are a big step, there are numerous hurdles ahead, including satisfying approval requirements by regulators in individual countries, production of the billions of doses required for mass vaccination, ensuring proper storage and building distribution networks.

1:12 AM

Assam's Covid-19 cases rise to 211,839 with 157 more people testing positive

Assam's Covid-19 caseload rises to 211,839 with 157 more people testing positive, one more fatality pushes death toll to 976; active case count 3,214: Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma

12:45 AM

Nagpur increases fine on people violating mandatory mask norms

Nagpur District Collector Ravindra Thakare says fine of Rs 1,000, up from current Rs 500, will be levied on people violating mandatory mask norm amid coronavirus outbreak

12:43 AM

Central health team visits Gurugram, reviews Covid-19 arrangements

A three-member team of the central government comprising Dr. Randeep Guleria of AIIMS, Delhi visited Gurugram on Tuesday to take stock of the arrangements made by the district administration to deal with the Covid-19 situation in Gurugram. The team was headed by Guleria. The team also got information about the health facilities being provided to Covid-19 infected patients in the city and expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made here. The team emphasised to make people aware of Covid Protocol. Civil surgeon Dr. Virendra Yadav gave detailed information about the arrangements made to control the corona infection in the district and told that the test of Covid-19 in the district is being done most across the district.

Yadav informed the team that there are three lakh tests per million in the district. In addition, area-wise camps are being organised to identify corona infected patients. So far 1,650 camps have been set up. He informed that for the convenience of the people, two RT-PCR testing machines are installed in the civil hospital. Apart from these, the government has authorised nine private testing labs which do the testing at the fees fixed by the government.

11:38 PM

1,033 people without mask penalised: Noida Police

As many as 1,033 people who were found without face masks at public places were issued challans across Noida and Greater Noida amid the COVID-19 outbreak, police said on Tuesday. Police Commissioner Alok Singh has directed officials to issue challans to those who are found not adhering to COVID-19 protocols in public places, according to a statement. According to it, Rs 1,03,800 were collected from the violators in fines on Tuesday. Earlier, the police had penalised over 3,600 people for similar violation in a period of three days from last Friday till Sunday and collected more than Rs 1,31,000 in fines from them, according to officials.

The police have appealed to people to follow COVID-19 protocols like wearing face masks and practising social distancing while outdoors and warned action against offenders. Meanwhile, Gautam Buddh Nagar's death toll due to the pandemic surged to 80 while the number of active cases reached 1,276 on Tuesday, according to official data.

11:14 PM

Maharashtra reports 5,439 new Covid-19 cases, 30 fatalities

10:38 PM

Delhi logs 6,224 Covid cases, over 100 deaths in 24 hours