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Coronavirus LIVE: India's recovery rate crosses 95%; among highest globally

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,886,807, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 902,240, Andhra Pradesh 875,500, Tamil Nadu 800,029, and Kerala 672,037

Health workers collect swab samples from COVID suspected people at Anand Vihar bus terminal, in New Delhi

Coronavirus update: On Monday, India reported a significant drop of 22,065 in the number of fresh Covid-19 cases. Its case tally now stands at 9,912,054. The country's death toll has mounted to 143,802. With 1,886,807 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 902,240, Andhra Pradesh 875,500, Tamil Nadu 800,029, and Kerala 672,037. Delhi reported 1,376 fresh cases on Monday, the lowest in over three-and-a-half months, even as the death toll mounted to 10,074 with 60 more fatalities.

The Union health ministry on Tuesday said 29,000 cold chain points, 240 walk-in coolers, 70 walk-in freezers, 45,000 ice-lined refrigerators, 41,000 deep freezers and 300 solar refrigerators will be used for Covid-19 vaccine storage.

World coronavirus update: The global tally of coronavirus cases stands at 73,358,079. While 51,497,069 have recovered, 1,631,427 have died so far. The US, the worst-hit country, has 16,934,817 cases, and 308,009 have died from the disease there. It is followed by India, which has 9,906,507 cases, Brazil (6,929,409), Russia (2,681,256), France (2,379,915).

Stay tuned for the latest coronavirus-related news.

1:51 AM

Biden to take oath outside Capitol amid virus restrictions

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take their oaths of office outside the US Capitol building as inauguration planners seek to craft an event that captures the traditional grandeur of the historic ceremony while complying with Covid-19 protocols.

Biden's team released some broad details for the January 20 event on Tuesday. They're proceeding with the plans without any assurances that outgoing President Donald Trump will participate.

The president, who continues to make unproven claims of widespread voter fraud, has not yet told current and former White House aides whether he will attend Biden's inauguration.

1:02 AM

Assam logs 142 new Covid cases

Assam's Covid-19 caseload went up to 2,14,945 on Tuesday after 142 more people tested positive for the disease, while one fresh fatality took the death toll to 1,004, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

He said that 102 patients recovered from coronavirus during the day, taking the total number of cured people in the state to 2,10,398.

11:41 PM

WHO to sift Chinese samples, data in hunt for virus origins

A German scientist who is part of a small team of experts assembled by the World Health Organisation to investigate the origins of the coronavirus says they plan to sift through samples and medical data from China to help determine where the bug first jumped from animals to humans and which species it came from.

The search for the source of the new coronavirus has sparked claims of cover-ups and fuelled political tensions,, particularly between the US administration of President Donald Trump and Beijing.

Most researchers think that the virus, also known as SARS-CoV-2, originated in animals in China, probably bats, and the WHO has put together a 10-person team to examine the science.

Mission member Fabian Leendertz, a biologist at Germany's Robert Koch Institute who specialised in emerging diseases, said that the goal is to gather data to be better prepared for possible future outbreaks.

11:38 PM

Assam reported 142 new coronavirus cases and 102 discharges in last 24 hours

10:55 PM

Jharkhand reports 209 new coronavirus cases, 211 recoveries and 1 death in last 24 hours

10:33 PM

Poor countries face long wait for vaccines despite promises

With Americans, Britons and Canadians rolling up their sleeves to receive coronavirus vaccines, the route out of the pandemic now seems clear to many in the West, even if the rollout will take many months. But for poorer countries, the road will be far longer and rougher.

The ambitious initiative known as COVAX created to ensure the entire world has access to COVID-19 vaccines has secured only a fraction of the 2 billion doses it hopes to buy over the next year, has yet to confirm any actual deals to ship out vaccines and is short on cash.

The virus that has killed more than 1.6 million people has exposed vast inequities between countries, as fragile health systems and smaller economies were often hit harder.

10:18 PM