LIVE: PM Modi to launch Covid-19 vaccination at 10.30 am on Saturday

Coronavirus live updates: In the last 24 hours, India registered 17,015 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the tally to 10,512,8311. Globally, nearly 93 million people have been infected by the virus

11:44 PM

Covid vaccination in Delhi: 75 sites for Covishield, 6 for Covaxin, say officials

Two days ahead of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, authorities on Thursday released the list of 81 sites that will be part of the immunisation exercise here, with a senior official saying Covishield will be administered at 75 centres, while Covaxin will be given at the remaining facilities. The sites, with nearly an even split of government and private hospitals, include six central government facilities -- AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, Kalawati Saran Children Hospital and two ESI hospitals.

The rest 75 centres, spanning all 11 districts of Delhi, include Delhi government-run facilities, such as LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital, DDU Hospital, BSA Hospital, Delhi State Cancer Institute, ILBS Hospital, and private facilities include Max Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Apollo Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. A senior official in the Delhi Health Department, when asked, however, did not clarify which of these hospitals will be the six centres where the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech will be used.

"Delhi has now a total of 81 session sites, 75 for administering Covishield vaccine and six for Covaxin, on the vaccination rollout day," a senior official said. Addressing an online media briefing, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the city government has received in total 2.74 lakh doses of the vaccine so far from the Centre, which would be sufficient to cater to 1.2 lakh healthcare workers.

The first batch of Oxford Covishield vaccine containing 2.64 lakh doses had reached the Delhi's central storage facility at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital on Tuesday amid high security, officials earlier said.

11:16 PM

German lockdown loopholes criticised as deaths hit new high

Germany has too many loopholes in its coronavirus lockdown rules, the head of the country's disease control agency said as figures published Thursday showed the highest number of daily deaths since the start of the pandemic. The Robert Koch Institute said 1,244 deaths from coronavirus were confirmed in Germany in one day up to Thursday, taking the total number to 43,881. There were also 25,164 newly confirmed cases, putting Germany's total known infections close to 2 million.

Lothar Wieler, president of the institute, said data indicated people in Germany are traveling more than during the first phase of the pandemic in spring, contributing to the virus' spread. German authorities have imposed restrictions on social contacts, largely closed schools and limited travel for those in areas with high infection rates, but the rules aren't uniformly enforced across the country's 16 states.

To me, these measures we're now taking aren't a complete lockdown, said Wieler. There are still too many exceptions and they aren't being strictly implemented. Officials are considering tougher restrictions to curb the continued rise in infections.

10:55 PM

Kerala reports 5,490 new Covid cases, 4,337 recoveries

Kerala on Thursday reported 5,490 new Covid-19 cases with a test positivity rate of 8.11 per cent, a press statement issued by the office of state health minister K.K. Shailaja said. On a positive note, 4,337 people recovered from the disease on Thursday. Malappuram reported the maximum number of cases on Thursday at 712, while Kasargod reported the least number of cases at 72. As many as 67,712 samples were tested on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 19 deaths in the last 24 hours took the state's Covid death toll to 3,392. Among those who tested positive on Thursday, 92 people had come from outside the state, 4,911 got the diseaase through contact while the source of contact of 435 people is unclear. Fifty-two health workers tested positive on Thursday, 14 in Kozhikode, followed by Pathanamthitta (9), Kannur (7), Thrissur (5), Ernakulam and Wayanad (4 each), Idukki and Palakkad (2 each), and Thiruvananhapuram, Malappuram and Kasargod (1 each).

At present, there are 2,01,293 people under observation in the state, including 10,904 at various hospitals. Meanwhile, 6 new hotspots on Thursday increased the state's tally to 420.

10:29 PM

Maharashtra govt receives 963,000 Covidshield doses, 20,000 Covaxin doses so far

State Government has received 963,000 doses of Covishield and 20,000 doses of Covaxin till now. Government and private health workers to get vaccinated on priority in the first phase of vaccination: Maharashtra Health Department

10:05 PM

10 more deaths, 214 new Covid cases in Punjab

Punjab reported 10 more Covid-19 fatalities on Thursday, pushing the death toll to 5,473 in Punjab while 214 fresh cases took the tally to 1,69,90, a medical bulletin said. There are 2,767 active COVID-19 cases in the state as of now, it said. Mohali reported43 new cases, Jalandhar 34 and Ludhiana 22, among the fresh cases recorded in the state.

A total of 253 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the infection, taking the number of cured people to 1,61,710, the bulletin said. Nine critical patients are on ventilator support while 99 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said. A total of 41,77,959 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state, itsaid.

9:18 PM

Factsheet for Covid vaccine prepared for record-keeping purposes: Health ministry

Comparative factsheet for Covid-19 vaccines (Covishield & Covaxin) has been prepared for recordkeeping purposes. Comparison parameters will incl vaccine platform, physical specifications, dosage, cold chain storage requirements, & minor Adverse Events Following Immunisation: Health ministry

9:05 PM

Three more UK returnees in Kerala test positive for new strain of coronavirus

With three more UK returnees to Kerala testing positive for the new variant of COVID-19, nine persons have so far been infected with the strain inthe state, Health Minister K K Shailaja has said. The three are men - two from Kannur and one from Pathanamthitta districts, the Minister said ina press release on Thursday.

 

The state reported 5,490 COVID-19 cases while 4,337 have been cured of the infection, taking the total caseload to 8,31,259 and recoveries to7,61,154. The active cases touched 66,503.

 

In the last 24 hours, 67,712 samples have been tested and the test positivity rate has touched 8.11 per cent. So far, 86,88,585 samples have been sent for testing. Among the districts, Malappuram recorded 712 cases, Ernakulam 659, Kozhikode 582 and Pathanamthitta 579.

8:55 PM

Kerala suffered Rs 1.56 trillion revenue loss due to Covid-19 pandemic: Finance Minister

Already ravaged by Ockhi Cyclone and two consecutive floods during the previous years, Kerala has suffered a revenue loss of Rs 1.56 lakh crore due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown, state Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac said on Thursday.

 

Isaac, who tabled the Left government's Economic Review 2020 in the state assembly, a day ahead of the state budget, said natural disasters including Cyclone Ockhi of 2017, two consecutive floods of 2018, '19 and the pandemic affected the state's economy along with the return of non-resident Keralites (NRKs) from abroad, mostly following job loss.

 

The state's growth rates, which were higher than the national rates of growth saw a downward trend in 2019-20, due to the setbacks the state economy faced during the last three years, the Review said.

8:28 PM

340 fresh coronavirus cases in Delhi, four new fatalities

Delhi recorded 340 fresh COVID-19 cases and four deaths on Thursday, the daily fatality count dropping to a single digit after several months, even as the positivity rate slipped to 0.48 per cent. This is also the eleventh time the daily incidences count stood below the 500-mark in January.

 

The infection tally in the city stood at over 6.31 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,722 with four new fatalities. Eleven COVID-19 deaths were recorded on Wednesday.

 

This month, 585 cases were reported on January 1 and 494 on January 2; 424 on January 3; 384 on January 4, and 442 on January 5; 654 on January 6; 486 on January 7 and 444 on January 8; 519 on January 9 and 399 on January 10; 306 on January 11 and 386 on January 12 and 357 on January 13. The active cases tally on Thursday dropped to 2,937 from 2,991 the previous day, while the positivity rate dropped to 0.48 per cent.

8:10 PM

PM Modi to launch Covid-19 vaccination 10.30 am Saturday: Govt

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s Covid-19 vaccination programme through video at 10.30am on Saturday, the government said Thursday.

 

The vaccination will begin with 3,006 sites that will be virtually connected during the launch. Each centre will inoculate 100 people a day to begin with. "This vaccination programme is based on the principles of priority groups to be vaccinated and health care workers, both in government and private sectors, will receive the vaccine during this phase," said the government.

 

It will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by Health Ministry for real-time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and tracking of vaccine recipients. READ MORE...

7:50 PM

Dedicated 24x7 call centre, 1075, established to address queries related to Covid-19 pandemic: PMO

Dedicated 24x7 call centre, 1075, established to address queries related to Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and its digital platform: PMO

7:48 PM

Over 3,000 sites to be virtually connected during Covid-19 vaccination drive on Jan 16: PMO

Over 3,000 sites across all states, UTs to be virtually connected during Covid-19 vaccination drive launch by PM on Jan 16: PMO.

 

7:36 PM

Adequate vaccine doses sent to all States/UTs with active support of Aviation Ministry: PMO

7:11 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: 31 new Covid-19 cases in Muzaffarnagar

There were 31 new coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, taking the tally 8,032 on Thursday. Of the new cases, five were staff members of Muzaffarnagar Medical College. 

 

There are 244 active cases of COVID-19 in the district so far, while one more infected person has died taking the toll to 17.

 

According to District Magistrate Selva Kumari J, of the 932 tests that were done the previous day, 31 returned positive. A total of 19 people have recovered taking the total recoveries to 8,032 in the district, the official said.

6:47 PM

5,490 fresh coronavirus cases and 4,337 recoveries reported in Kerala in last 24 hours