Coronavirus LIVE: Covid-19 vaccine dry run concludes in four states

Coronavirus live updates: At 1,925,066, Maharashtra has the highest number of coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 916,909, Andhra Pradesh 881,273, Tamil Nadu 815,175, and Kerala 743,563

12:08 AM

Two more contacts of UK returnees test COVID-19 positive in Delhi

Two more contacts of people who were found infected with COVID-19 after returning from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the disease, officials said on Tuesday. With this, the total number of infected persons, including those who returned from the UK and their contacts, has gone up to 33, a Delhi government official said.

"All the 33 persons admitted to a special facility in LNJP hospital were stable. Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to ascertain whether they were carrying the new UK strain or not," he said. Out of the 33 infected persons, 11 were tested through RT-PCR tests at the IGI airport on their arrival from the UK. Nine other UK returnees were found positive in the Delhi government's district-level door-to-door contact and testing drive.

11:11 PM

Sikkim reports 19 new Covid-19 cases; tally rises to 5,864

Sikkim reported 19 fresh Covid- 19 cases in the last 24 hours taking the tally in the Himalayan state to 5,864, an official said on Tuesday. The state Information Education Communication (IEC) member Sonam Bhutia said that East Sikkim district registered 12 cases followed by four in South Sikkim, two in North Sikkim and one in West Sikkim district.

Sikkim now has 537 active COVID-19 cases, while 94 patients have migrated to other states and 5,107 people have recovered from the disease, he said. A total of 126 people have died of COVID-19 in the state so far, he said. Sikkim has tested 68,543 samples for Covid-19, including 274 samples in the last 24 hours, he added.

10:57 PM

Jharkhand reported 230 new Covid-19 cases, 203 recoveries

10:56 PM

5 UK returnees to Haryana test positive for Covid-19

Five people from Haryana who returned to India from the United Kingdom recently have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to check whether it is a new strain detected in the UK, an official said Tuesday. As many as 1,740 people have returned to Haryana from the UK recently, he said.

From the list given to us by the Bureau of Immigration, we followed up on 1,740 people who had returned to the state. Around 800-900 have been tested so far," Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Health Department) Rajeev Arora told PTI. Out of these, five have been found positive for COVID-19. Now, their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to CSIR lab to check if any of them carries the new mutated strain of coronavirus, he said.

"The lab results will tell whether these five found positive have the original COVID strain or the mutant strain, he said. All those found positive have been quarantined, officials said.

10:44 PM

Ahmedabad reports 170 Covid-19 cases, 173 recoveries; 3 die

The coronavirus tally in Ahmedabad district of Gujarat rose to 57,310 with the addition of 170 new cases on Tuesday, the state health department said. With three more fatalities, the number of patients who have succumbed to the virus increased to 2,243, it said.

As many as 173 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the number of recovered cases to 52,134, the department said in a release. Ahmedabad city reported163 new cases and 168 recoveries, while the rural parts of the district recorded seven fresh infections and five discharges, it said.

Western parts of the city have the highest number of active cases with the north-west zone accounting for 400 such cases followed by the west zone at 392 and south-west zone at 375. The central zone has 278 active cases, the lowest among the city's seven zones.

9:45 PM

Delhi reports 703 fresh Covid-19 cases, 28 fatalities; positivity rate 0.83%

Delhi recorded 703 fresh COVID-19 cases and 28 new fatalities on Tuesday, as the positivity rate improved slightly to stand at 0.83 per cent, authorities said. The infection tally in the city mounted to over 6.24 lakh and the death toll to 10,502, they said, adding over 84,000 tests were conducted the previous day. The positivity rate on Monday was 0.98 per cent.

Barring on December 24, the daily case count in the national capital has been below the 1000-mark for the past several days. As many as 803 cases were reported on December 21; 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, 757 cases were recorded while on December 28, the daily cases count was 564, the lowest in the last five months.

9:44 PM

At 6, Mumbai logs lowest Covid-19 death count since May

Mumbai reported 537 new Covid-19 cases and six deaths, the lowest single-day fatalities since May, while 486 more patients were discharged from hospitals on Tuesday, the city civic body said. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)'s updated data, the tally of Covid-19 cases increased to 2,92,008, while the death toll rose to 11,094. The financial capital has reported less than 600 cases for the fifth day in a row.

Mumbai had reported five Covid-19 fatalities on May 1. Earlier this month, the city had reported seven deaths on a single-day. According to the data, the number of recuperated patients increased to 2,71,870, around 93 per cent of the tally, with 486 more people getting discharged from hospitals. Currently, the city has 8,186 active Covid-19 cases.

The city has a Covid-19 doubling rate of 365 days, while the growth rate is 0.21 per cent, the civic body said. With 13,860 more Covid-19 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the number of samples examined so far increased to 23,25,363, it said.

8:59 PM

No evidence that vaccines will not work against new Covid-19 variants: Centre

8:54 PM

No evidence that vaccines will not work against new COVID-19 variants: Centre

8:42 PM

Covid-19 vaccination dry run carried out in two districts of Assam

COVID-19 vaccine dry run programme was held for the second day on Tuesday in Nalbari and Sonitpur, two select districts of Assam, health officials said. Assam is one of the four states chosen by the Central government to conduct the two-day COVID-19 vaccine dry run. In Nalbari district, 125 health workers were administered dummy Coronavirus vaccine in a mock drill held at five hospitals and health centres.

 

The dry run for the vaccine was conducted at Nalbari Swahid Mukunda Kakati Civil Hospital, Balitara Public Health Centre (PHC), Ghograpar block PHC, Urban health centre and the private Sarathi nursing home.

 

It was conducted in the presence of WHO officials who are extending support to persons affected by COVID-19 pandemic, District Immunization Officer Dr Hemanta Kumar Das said. READ ON...

8:26 PM

Uttarakhand govt extends Covid-19 guidelines till January 31

8:12 PM

3,018 new coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, 69 deaths and 5,572 recoveries

Maharashtra's coronavirus caseload rose to 19,25,066 on Tuesday as it recorded 3,018 new cases. With 69 patients dying, the death toll in the state reached 49,373. On the other hand, 5,572 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the tally of recovered persons to 18,20,021. There are now 54,537 active cases.

 

Mumbai city reported 537 new cases during the day, which pushed its case count to 2,92,008, while the death toll in the state capital rose to 11,094 with six new fatalities.

 

With 56,982 new samples tested, the number of coronavirus tests conducted in Maharashtra went up to 1,26,00,754. Maharashtra's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases: 19,25,066, new cases: 3,018, death toll: 49,373, discharged: 18,20,021, active cases: 54,537, people tested so far: 1,26,00,754.

7:52 PM

234 fresh coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 234 fresh COVID-19 cases, while four more people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours. The union territory's COVID-19 tally has mounted to 1,20,527 and the death toll stands at 1,879, they said.

 

Out of the fresh cases, 131 were from Kashmir and 103 from Jammu division.

 

The officials said Srinagar recorded the highest of 69 cases, followed by 65 in Jammu district. The number of active cases has dropped to 3,088, while 11,556 patients have recovered so far, the officials said. Jammu division andKashmir Valley reported two deaths each.

7:33 PM

Covaxin can work against mutated coronavirus: Bharat Biotech

Covaxin, a vaccine candidate being developed by Bharat Biotech for COVID-19, can offer protection against mutations of coronavirus, Chairman and Managing Directorof the city-based vaccine maker Krishna Ella said on Tuesday. He also said the company has approached regulatory authorities seeking approval for an emergency license to use the vaccine, developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology and now undergoing phase 3 trials.

 

"It (coronavirus) is expected to have a lot of mutation and you can be rest assured this vaccine will also protect against that (mutated) virus because of two hypotheses...

 

"So you have these two components in the inactivated vaccine. It will also take care of those mutations," Ella said during a virtual programme organised by CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.

7:03 PM

Kerala Covid-19 toll crosses 3,000 mark; Over 5,000 new cases

The death toll due to COVID-19 crossed the 3,000 mark in Kerala with the addition of 24 more deaths on Tuesday as 5887 new cases were recorded, taking the viruscaseload to almost 7.50 lakh. As many as 5,029 people have been cured of the infection, pushing the total recoveries to 6,81,397.

 

Presently 64,861 people are undergoing treatment for the disease.

 

So far, 7,49,449 people have been infected by the virus. In the last 24 hours, 61,778 samples have been tested, while 77,89,764 specimens have been sent for testing so far, Health minister K K Shailaja said. The positivity rate has touched 9.53 per cent.

Among the districts, Kottayam accounted for 777 new cases, Ernakulam 734, Thrissur 649 and Malappuram 610. Twenty-four deaths in the past few days has been confirmed due to COVID, following which the toll hasclimbed to 3,014.