Coronavirus Cases In India: The country now has a total of 96.45 lakh overall cases (File)
India's total COVID-19 active caseload dropped to 4,09,689 on Saturday, according to the Union health ministry.
The ministry said that the present active caseload comprises 4.26% of the total positive cases, and new recoveries have led to a net decline of 6,393 in the total active cases, the ministry said in a statement.
"India's total active caseload has dropped below 4.10 lakh (4,09,689) today. This is the lowest after 136 days. The total active cases were 4,11,133, on July 22," it said.
The ministry said that for the past eight days, the daily new recoveries recorded in the country have been more than the daily cases. The country now has a total of 96.45 lakh overall cases of the deadly disease which broke out in China's Wuhan in December last year.
Meanwhile, American pharma giant Pfizer has sought approval from the country's drug regulator - the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) - for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine, say sources. The vaccine is ready to be rolled out in the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
This is the first such request received by the DCGI amid the race to find a vaccine for the deadly virus, which has affected over 96 lakh people in India. The drug regulator may give emergency approval if it is satisfied by the results of the trials conducted outside India, sources have added.
In its application submitted on Friday, Pfizer India seeks permission to "import the vaccine for sale and distribution in the country, besides waiver of clinical trials on Indian population in accordance with the special provisions under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019," sources have been quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Here are the LIVE updates on India Coronavirus Cases:
"Didn't Ignore Protocol," Tweets Haryana Minister After Testing Covid+Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij this morning tweeted he did not ignore any protocol after testing positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Rebuffing a media report that he kept meeting people after testing positive for the highly infectious virus, he tweeted: "The report that I kept meeting people is totally wrong. Half and hour after testing positive, I was admitted to Ambala hospital."
"Half an hour after coming positive, I was admitted to the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment," he tweeted this morning.
Mr Vij, on Saturday, had tweeted that he tested positive for the virus. The minister contracted the virus two weeks after receiving "the first dose" of the two-shot coronavirus vaccine by Bharat Biotech, the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm which has developed Covaxin, India's first indigienous vaccine for the highly infectious coronavirus.
Read Couple, Priest Perform Rituals In PPE Kit After Bride Tests COVID+ In Rajasthan
A couple in Rajasthan's Shahbad district decided to go ahead for their wedding even after the bride tested positive for coronavirus on the wedding day, news agency ANI reported on Sunday.
As seen in the video tweeted by news agency ANI, the couple tied the nuptial knot wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) kits.
1st ODI Between South Africa vs England Suspended After Hotel Staff Test Covid Positive
The first ODI between South Africa and England in Paarl, which was rescheduled to Sunday, has been suspended after two staff members at the hotel where the visitors were staying tested positive for coronavirus. The start of the match was initially delayed after the tests returned positive, but the match was then called off. Two members of England's touring party have also tested positive for coronavirus, although it is not known if the two are players or members of the support staff.
Haryana Reports 24 COVID-19 Deaths, 1,498 Fresh Cases In A DayTwenty-four more fatalities related to the coronavirus infection took the death count in Haryana to 2,588 on Sunday, while 1,498 fresh cases pushed the state's infection tally to 2,43,896.
According to the state health department's bulletin, the new deaths included five each from Faridabad and Hisar and three each from Gurgaon and Karnal districts.
Among the districts which reported a big spike in cases included Gurgaon (310), Faridabad (265), Rewari (144), Panipat (105) and Sonipat (104).
The number of active cases in the state stood at 12,897 while the recovery rate was 93.65 per cent, the bulletin stated.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: West Bengal Reports 3,143 Covid Cases, 46 Fresh FatalitiesWest Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 4,99,697 on Sunday as 3,143 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.
Forty-six fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 8,723, it said.
As many as 3,167 more people were cured of the disease, taking the recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state to 93.51 per cent, it said.
Kolkata registered the highest number of new cases at 765, followed by North 24 Parganas (746) and South 24 Parganas (209), it said.
North 24 Parganas reported the highest number of coronavirus fatalities at 15, followed by Kolkata (10) and Hooghly (four), the bulletin said.
The state now has 23,894 active coronavirus cases, it said.
West Bengal has so far tested 61.35 lakh samples for COVID-19, including 44,186 in the last 24 hours, it said.
1,950 New COVID-19 Cases Take UP's Tally To 5,54,944; Death Count At 7,924The COVID-19 death count in Uttar Pradesh rose to 7,924 on Sunday with 24 new fatalities, while 1,950 fresh cases took the infection tally to 5,54,944, an official statement issued here said.
The statement said among the 24 new deaths, five were reported from Lucknow, three from Varanasi and two each from Kanpur and Ayodhya.
Of the fresh COVID-19 cases, 283 were reported from Lucknow followed by 223 from Ghaziabad, 171 from Meerut, 138 from Gautam Buddh Nagar and 108 from Varanasi.
In the past 24 hours, 1,993 patients have recovered from the disease, taking the total number of recoveries to 5,24, 860, it said.
The recovery rate in the state is 94.58 per cent, it said, adding that the count of active cases is currently 22,160.
Additional Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters that the positivity rate in December was 1.20 per cent.
In the last 24 hours, over 1.79 lakh samples were tested for COVID-19, and so far more than 2.03 crore tests have been conducted in the state.
Italy's COVID-19 Death Count Passes 60,000 With 564 New FatalitiesItaly reported 564 COVID-related deaths on Sunday, down from 662 the day before and taking the official count since its outbreak began in February to 60,078, according to health ministry data.
The health ministry also reported 18,887 new infections over the past 24 hours, down from 21,052 the day before.
Italy, the first Western country to be hit by the epidemic, becomes the sixth nation in the world to surpass 60,000 deaths, and the second in Europe after Britain. It has also registered 1.728 million cases to date.
COVID-19: Delhi Records 2,706 Fresh Cases; Positivity Rate Dips To Below 4 Per CentDelhi recorded 2,706 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday with the positivity rate dipping to below 4 per cent, authorities said.
The positivity rate on Thursday, Friday and Saturday had stood at 4.96 per cent, 4.78 per cent and 4.2 per cent respectively.
The relatively low number of fresh cases on Sunday came out of 73,536 tests, including 32,023 RT-PCR tests, conducted the previous day, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday tweeted: "I am glad that the third wave also seems to be getting weak. Delhi fought a v difficult war against corona."
Sixty-nine fatalities were recorded, pushing the count in the national capital to 9,643, while the positivity rate dropped to 3.68 per cent, the bulletin said.
The active caseload on Sunday dropped to 24,693 from 26,678 the previous day.
The bulletin said that the total number of cases has climbed to 5,92,250.
Coronavirus: Maharashtra Sees 4,757 New Cases, 7,486 Recoveries; 40 DeathsMaharashtra on Sunday reported 4,757 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 18,52,266, the state health department said.
The death of 40 patients pushed the cumulative count to 47,734, it said.
A total of 7,486 patients were discharged during the day, taking the count of recoveries in the state to 17,23,370, the department said in a statement.
1,12,73,705 people have been tested until now. The state now has 80,079 active cases, it said.
The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state stands at 93.04 per cent while the case fatality rate is 2.58 per cent.
Mumbai city reported 786 new COVID-19 cases in the day and 13 fatalities, taking the caseload to 2,86,053 and the fatality tally to 10,896, respectively, it said.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) added 1,488 new cases, taking the overall caseload to 6,40,005 and 18,607 fatalities, the release said.
Nashik city reported 163 fresh cases, Pune 263, Pimpri Chinchwad 111,Nagpur 390 and Aurangabad 96, it said.
The COVID-19 figures in Maharashtra are as follows: positive cases 18,52,266, deaths 47,734, active cases 80,079, recoveries 17,23,370, the number of people tested 1,12,73,705.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: 31 New Cases Push Tripura's COVID-19 Tally To 32,891At least 31 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura on Sunday, pushing the tally in the state to 32,891, a health department official said.
The death count remained at 369 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported, he said.
West Tripura district, of which state capital Agartala is a part, has accounted for 186 of the 369 COVID-19 deaths, the official said.
Tripura currently has 454 active coronavirus cases, while 32,045 people have recovered from the disease.
Twenty-three patients have migrated to other states, the official said.
On Saturday, sixty-three people were discharged from GB Pant Hospital, the main referral facility for COVID-19 patients in the state.
A total of 5,40,091 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the northeastern state so far, he said.
"The state has conducted 3,31,258 rapid antigen tests and 2,08,833 samples were tested through RT-PCR method," he added.
Gujarat: 1,455 New COVID-19 Cases, 1,485 Recoveries; Death Count Rises To 4,081Gujarat on Sunday reported 1,455 fresh coronavirus positive cases, taking the count of infections to 2,18,788, the state health department said.
With 17 more patients succumbing to the viral disease, the cumulative death count mounted to 4,081, it said.
At 1,485, the number of recoveries exceeded the new cases.
The tally of recoveries in the state now stands at 2,00,012, taking the case recovery rate to 91.42 per cent, the department said a release.
The state now has 14,695 active cases.
With 69,310 samples being tested during the day, the overall tally of tests rose to 82,41,960, the release said.
Delhi Following Pollution Board's Covid Waste Rules, AAP Government Tells CourtThe AAP government has told the Delhi High Court that guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) are in place for handling and disposal of waste generated during treatment, diagnosis and quarantine of COVID-19 patients.
The "Guidelines for Handling, Treatment, and Disposal of Waste Generated during Treatment/Diagnosis/Quarantine of COVID-19 Patients" issued by the CPCB in July has been filed the Delhi government in response to the court's query regarding any protocol being in place for disposal of test kits and swabs.
The query by the court came on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer alleging improper disposal of used swabs from rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 at the office of the southeast Delhi district magistrate at Lajpat Nagar.
Tamil Nadu reported 1,320 new COVID-19 cases, 1,398 discharges, and 16 deaths in the last 24 hours: State Health Department, Government of Tamil Nadu
Meghalaya's Covid Tally Stands At 12,237, Death Count At 120Meghalaya reported fresh 73 COVID-19 cases, pushing the state's tally to 12,237, a senior health official said on Sunday.
The death count rose to 120 after two patients succumbed to the virus on Sunday, Health Services director Aman War said.
The northeastern state now has 664 active cases, including 404 in East Khasi Hills district, followed by 138 in West Garo Hills District.
Sixty-one patients have recovered from the disease, increasing the number of those cured to 11,453 in the state, War said.
Kerala reports 4,777 fresh COVID-19 cases and 5,217 recoveries today. The total numbers of active cases and recovered cases are 60,924 and 5,27,911 respectively, news agency ANI reported.
Oxygen Shortage Leaves 6 Covid Patients Dead In PakistanAt least six Covid-19 patients died after "criminal negligence" resulted in a delayed supply of oxygen to a hospital in northwest Pakistan, officials said Sunday, as the country battles a second wave of the epidemic.
More than 200 patients -- including nearly 100 with coronavirus -- were left for hours with limited supplies of oxygen at a government-run hospital in Peshawar.
"The sad incident happened due to lack of central oxygen supply in the hospital," provincial health minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra told a press conference, confirming the deaths.
"We will hold an inquiry and get to the bottom of the incident," he added, promising action against those responsible "for this criminal negligence".
Hospital spokesman Farhad Khan told AFP a disruption in oxygen supplies affected some 200 people, "including 96 Covid-19 patients".
He blamed a private supplier, saying the Rawalpindi-based company had "failed to meet the growing demand".
Pakistan has reported more than 400,000 cases of coronavirus -- including over 8,000 deaths -- since the virus arrived in late February.
Intensive care units in hospitals across the country are now almost full, with provincial governments struggling to deal with the soaring caseload.
Coronavirus LIVE: Odisha Logs 393 COVID-19 Cases, 6 More DeathsOdisha's COVID-19 tally on Sunday mounted to 3,21,196 after 393 more people tested positive for the infection, while six fresh fatalities pushed the count to 1,771, a health department official said.
Of the 393 new cases, 229 were reported from various quarantine centres, and the rest detected during contact tracing, the official said.
Khurda district, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, recorded the maximum number of new cases at 49, followed by Sundargarh at 45 and Mayurbhanj at 32.
Two districts, Boudh and Subarnapur, did not report any new case in the last 24 hours, he said.
According to the official, Khurda reported two fresh casualties, which one each succumbed to the infection in Balasore, Bolangir, Kalahandi and Nuapada districts.
Odisha currently has 4,102 active cases, while as many as 3,15,270 patients have recovered.
Fifty-three COVID-19 patients in the state have died due to comorbidities.
The positivity rate in the coastal state stands at 5.23 per cent, the official said.
Over 61.43 lakh samples have been examined so far, including 41,110 on Saturday, he added.
UK Prepares For "Historic Moment" Of Vaccination Against COVID-19The first 50 National Health Service (NHS) hospitals are gearing up for what the UK government has described as the "biggest immunisation programme in history" as the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 arrived at "secure locations" in the country from neighbouring Belgium this weekend.
Frontline healthcare staff, people over the age of 80 and care home workers will be among the first to get the vaccine as part of Phase 1 of the programme from Tuesday, which was approved for rollout by the UK's independent regulator earlier this week.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had declared the jab, which claims to offer up to 95 per cent protection against COVID-19, is safe for human use against the novel coronavirus after "rigorous" checks.
"This coming week will be an historic moment as we begin vaccination against COVID-19," said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
"I urge everybody to play their part to suppress this virus and follow the local restrictions to protect the NHS while they carry out this crucial work," he said.
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Delhi's Nearly 11% Of Symptomatic Negative Cases In Rapid Antigen Tests Found Covid Positive Through RT-PCRNearly 11 per cent of those in the national capital who tested negative for COVID-19 in rapid antigen tests (RAT) but had symptoms for the disease were found to have been afflicted by the viral infection in RT-PCR test between September 1 and November 7, according to official data.
Out of the 56,862 symptomatic patients who tested negative in rapid antigen tests, 32,903 were retested through RT-PCR and of them 3,524 were found COVID-19 positive, according to the data shared by health authorities in response to an RTI query filed by a PTI reporter.
In order to effectively curb the spread of coronavirus infection, the Union Health Ministry had in September asked all states and Union Territories to mandatorily retest all symptomatic cases found COVID-19 negative in rapid antigen tests through RT-PCR so that no positive case is missed.
For Delhi, the case positivity rate in RT-PCR, which is considered the gold standard for COVID-19 screening, was 20.97 per cent in September, while it was only 4.77 per cent when it comes to rapid antigen test, the RTI reply stated.
Britain Gets Ready For Roll-Out Of Pfizer's COVID-19 VaccineBritain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, initially making the shot available at hospitals before distributing stocks to doctors' clinics, the government said on Sunday.
The first doses are set to be administered on Tuesday, with the National Health Service (NHS) giving top priority to vaccinating the over-80s, frontline healthcare workers and care home staff and residents.
Britain gave emergency use approval for the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech last week - jumping ahead in the global race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history.
In total, Britain has ordered 40 million doses - enough to vaccinate 20 million people in the country of 67 million.
About 800,000 doses are expected to be available within the first week.
Coronavirus News: India's Active COVID-19 Caseload Further Contracts To 4.03 Lakh
With India recording more recoveries than new COVID-19 cases for the last nine days, the active coronavirus caseload dropped to 4.03 lakh (4,03,248) on Sunday, the lowest in 138 days, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reported news agency ANI. "This is the lowest in 138 days. The total active cases were 4,02,529, on July 21, 2020," the Ministry said in a release. The country's present active caseload consists of just 4.18 per cent of the total positive cases.
Coronavirus News: Police To Play Major Role In Covid Vaccine Distribution, Says Goa Top Cop
Goa Director General of Police (DGP) Mukesh Kumar Meena has said that police will have a major role in the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine, when it becomes available, reported news agency ANI.
Coronavirus News: Puducherry Reports 35 Fresh Cases Of COVID-19
Puducherry reported 35 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday, taking the tally to 37,244, while the death count remained at 614 as there were no fatalities. The day also saw 62 patients getting discharged from various hospitals after recovery.
Coronavirus News: Arunachal Pradesh Reports 17 New COVID-19 Cases
Seventeen people tested positive for coronavirus in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the tally in the state to 16,384, a senior health department official said in Itanagar on Sunday, reported news agency PTI. Of the 17 fresh cases, six were reported from the Capital Complex region, three from Tawang and two from Upper Siang, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. One case each was recorded in West Kameng, Lower Subansiri, Tirap, Changlang, East Siang and Anjaw, he said. Fifteen infections were detected through rapid antigen tests while one each was diagnosed through RT-PCR and True NAT tests, the SSO said.
Coronavirus News: Jharkhand Reports 196 Fresh Covid Cases, One Death
Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally mounted to 1,10,186 with 196 fresh cases, while one more fatality pushed the death count to 979, a health department official said on Sunday, reported news agency PTI. Ranchi district registered the maximum number of new infections at 80, followed by Bokaro (24), Dhanbad (24) and East Singhbhum (nine).
Coronavirus News: 622 New Cases, Two Deaths Reported In Telangana
Telangana reported 622 fresh cases of COVID, taking the state's tally to over 2.73 lakh while two fatalities pushed the death count to 1,472, reported news agency PTI. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 104 infections, followed by Rangareddy 55 and Medchal Malkajgiri 51, a government bulletin said on Sunday providing details as of 8 pm, December 5.
Coronavirus News: Mizoram's COVID-19 Caseload Rises To 3,934 With 21 New Cases
At least 21 people, including two Border Security Force jawans, have tested positive for coronavirus in Mizoram, pushing the state's tally to 3,934, an official said on Sunday, reported news agency PTI. Among the fresh cases, a policeman, who was recently discharged from a COVID-19 Care Centre after testing negative, contracted the virus for the second time, he said.
Coronavirus News: India Logs 36,011 Fresh Cases In 24 Hours
India records 36,011 fresh coronavirus cases, 1.7% fewer than on Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 96.4 lakh. 1.4 lakh fatalities have been reported so far.
Coronavirus News: Covid Can Push Number Of People In Extreme Poverty To Over 1 Billion By 2030, Shows UN Study
An additional 207 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030 due to the severe long-term impact of the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total number of the world's extremely poor to over a billion, a new study from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has found, reported news agency PTI.
Covid Vaccine Should Be Given Free To Everyone, Says NCP's Nawab Malik
NCP leader Nawab Malik has said that COVID-19 vaccine should be given free to every citizen of the country. Speaking to ANI, Mr Malik said, "The Prime Minister held an all-party meeting and now they are saying State and Centre will decide the price, how can it be? In Bihar, they have given the assurance that vaccination will be free. We demand vaccine should be given to each Indian free of cost."