Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Vaccine rollout to take two months post-licensing, says Serum Institute’s Poonawalla

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Neetu Kapoor tests negative for COVID-19

Veteran Bollywood star Neetu Kapoor has tested negative for COVID-19, her daughter Riddhima Kapoor Sahni said on Friday. Taking to Instagram, Sahni posted a picture with the actor and expressed gratitude to all those who prayed for the good health of her mother.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: 18 new cases take Arunachal’s COVID-19 tally to 16,479

At least 18 more people, including four Army personnel, tested positive for COVID-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the tally in the state to 16,479, a health department official said on Friday. Of the new cases, five each were reported from East Siang, Tawang and West Kameng districts, while one each from Tirap, Namsai and the Capital Complex region, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Ladakh reports 26 new COVID-19 cases

The Union Territory of Ladakh has reported 26 new cases during the last 24 hours pushing the infection tally to 9,071, an official bulletin said on Friday. All the new cases were reported from Leh, it said. A total of 122 deaths were reported from Ladakh including 79 in Leh district and 43 in Kargil district, it said. The number of active cases stands at 777 including 666 in Leh and 111 in Kargil, the bulletin said.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Puducherry reports 43 fresh COVID-19 cases, two fatalities push toll to 619

Puducherry registered 43 fresh COVID-19 cases while two more fatalities took the toll in the union territory to 619, a top official of the Department of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday. The 43 fresh cases were reported during the last 24 hours raising the overall tally to 37,406, Director of the department S Mohan Kumar said in a release. The Mahe region accounted for 23 cases while Karaikal reported 12, followed by Puducherry (7) and Yanam (one). The Puducherry and Karaikal regions reported one death each, he said.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Nashik reports 283 COVID-19 cases, 207 recoveries; 6 more die

The count of COVID-19 cases in the Nashik district of Maharashtra rose to 1,04,534 on Thursday with the addition of 283 new patients, health officials said. The virus claimed six more lives which took the death toll in the district to 1,846, they said. Also, 207 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the number of recoveries to 99,186, the officials said.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Assam reports 146 new COVID-19 cases, 1 more death

Assam reported 146 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 2,14,165, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. A 60-year-old man from  Dibrugarh who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 died, following which the toll rose to 998, he said. There are 3,516 active cases in the state at present. Total of 165 COVID-19 patients recovered and were discharged during the day. In all, 2,09,787 patients have recovered. The state has tested total of 55,40,330 samples for COVID-19, including 22,649 on Thursday.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Bihar records 595 new COVID-19 cases, four more deaths

Bihar on Thursday reported 595 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 2,41,533, as per a bulletin issued by the Health Department. Two COVID-19 patients each died in Nawada and Supaul districts, following which the toll increased to 1,307, it said. A total of 442 people recovered in the last 24 hours. There are 5,286 active cases in the state at present. So far, 2,34,940 have recovered in the state. The state has so far tested 1.59 crore samples for COVID-19, including 1,26,206 in the last 24 hours, it said. Of the new cases, Patna accounted for 261, followed by Gaya (33), Muzaffarpur (20), Nalanda (19), Kishanganj and Begusarai (16 each).

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: US medical experts recommend authorisation of Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine

A US government advisory panel has recommended emergency approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, underlining that the shot’s potential benefits outweigh its risks. After an eight-hour public hearing on Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) voted 17 to 4 with 1 abstention to recommend the vaccine developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. There is a clear benefit, and all we have on the other side is theoretical risks, said committee member Paul Offit, a vaccine expert with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The vaccine’s potential benefits outweigh its risks, he said.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Bengal reports 46 more COVID deaths, 2,801 new cases

West Bengal’s COVID-19 death toll went up to 8,916 after 46 people succumbed to the disease on Thursday, while 2,801 fresh cases of infection took the tally 5,13,752, the health department said in a bulletin here. The discharge rate of coronavirus patients in the state improved to 93.70 percent after 2,951 recoveries were registered on Thursday. So far, 4,81,385 people have been cured of the disease, the bulletin said. The number of active cases at present is 23,451. Of the fresh fatalities, 19 were reported from Kolkata and 13 from the North 24 Parganas district, the bulletin said.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Mexico’s COVID-19 deaths average 55 years vs 75 in Europe

Mexico’s coronavirus spokesman said Thursday the country’s median age of death from COVID-19 was a shockingly young 55, as compared to an average of 75 in many European countries. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo Lpez-Gatell said that nonetheless, Mexico’s future coronavirus vaccination programme would target the oldest Mexicans first. Lpez-Gatell said the country’s high rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension explained Mexico’s lower average age of death. He said Mexico has among the highest rate of obesity in the world Lpez-Gatell said Mexico’s approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could come Friday.    

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Jharkhand reports 173 new COVID-19 cases, two more deaths

Jharkhand’s COVID-19 tally rose to 1,11,003 as 173 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Friday. The death toll increased to 993 after two more patients succumbed to the disease, he said. Two new fatalities were reported from Ranchi and Bokaro, the official said. Ranchi district registered the maximum number of fresh cases at 95, followed by Palamu at 11. Jharkhand now has 1,690 active coronavirus cases, while 1,08,320 people have been cured of the disease so far, the official said. The state has tested 19,504 samples for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, he added.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: COVID-19 tally in Andamans rises to 4,791 with eight new cases

Eight more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, raising the tally in the Union Territory to 4,791, a health department official said on Friday. The death toll remained at 61 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported, he said. Of the fresh cases, five were detected during contact tracing and three have travel history, he said. Five more people were cured of the disease on Thursday, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 4,652, the official said. The Union Territory now has 78 active cases. The Andaman and Nicobar administration has conducted 1,46,143 sample tests for COVID-19 so far, and the positivity rate stands at 3.28 percent, he added.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Telangana adds 612 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths push toll to 1,485

Telangana reported 612 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to over 2.76 lakh while three fatalities pushed the toll to 1,485, the state government said on Friday. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 144, followed by Rangareddy (73) and Medchal Malkajgiri (60), it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on December 10. As many as 7,604 patients are under treatment and 56,178 samples were tested on Thursday.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Global total COVID-19 cases now over 70 million. Total cases per million population crosses 9k mark (9070 cases/million)

– 15 countries now have more than a million total cases. These 15 countries account for 74% of the total cases.

– USA reporting more than 2 lakh daily new cases for 10 days in a row. Total cases over 16 million

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: India COVID-19 cases around 98 lakh with less than 30,000 cases in the last 24 hours

-Total cases around 98 lakh with an addition of 29,398 cases in the last 24 hours

-Active cases fall for 14th straight day; it’s down 8,544 in last 24 hours

-The positivity rate slips further; it’s at 3.71 percent vs yesterday’s 3.81 percent

-Recovery rate rises to 94.84 percent from yesterday’s 94.74 percent

-The mortality rate remains at 1.45 percent for the 12th straight day

-Single-day slips for 3rd consecutive day; it’s 8.72 lakh vs yesterday’s 9.23 lakh

-Single-day deaths remain above 400 for 3rd straight day; it’s up 414

-The last 24 hours saw total recoveries of 37,528

-Total cases at 97.97 lakh, active 3.64 lakh, recoveries 92.91 lakh & deaths 1.42 lakh

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: 3,824 new cases in Maharashtra; 5,008 recover, 70 die

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally on Thursday reached 18,68,172 with the addition of 3,824 cases, a state health official said. As the virus claimed the lives of 70 patients during the day, the fatality count went up to 47,972, he said. A total of 5,008 patients were discharged on Thursday, which pushed the recovery count of the state to 17,47,199. The number of active cases in Maharashtra is now 71,910.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Delhi records 1,575 new COVID-19 cases, positivity rate 2.46%

The national capital recorded 1,575 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the lowest in over three months, even as the positivity rate dipped to below 3 percent, authorities said. The positivity rate from December 3-7 had successively dipped to 4.96 percent, 4.78 percent, 4.2 percent, 3.68 percent and 3.15 percent respectively. However, on December 8, it had risen again to 4.23 percent, only to fall to 3.42 percent on December 9. These relatively low number of new cases on Thursday came out of 64,069 tests conducted the previous day, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department. Sixty-one fatalities were recorded, pushing the toll in the national capital to 9,874 while the positivity rate dropped to 2.46 percent, the bulletin said, adding that the average death rate of the past ten days stood at 2.27 percent. The fall in daily cases here is significant as it is the lowest since August 31, when 1,358 fresh incidences were recorded.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Mumbai records 798 COVID-19 cases, 13 deaths; 743 recover

Mumbai reported 798 new COVID-19 cases – 12th straight day of sub-1,000 infections – and 13 fresh deaths on Thursday, while 743 more patients were discharged following recovery, the city civic body said. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) updated data, the tally of COVID-19 cases has now increased to 2,88,689, while the death toll has reached 10,948. Notably, Mumbai is reporting less than 1,000 daily COVID-19 cases since November 29. On Wednesday, the financial capital had recorded 716 news cases and 15 deaths.

Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: India’s COVID-19 tally nears 98 lakh mark

India’s COVID-19 tally neared the 98 lakh mark on Friday. In its most recent update, the Union health ministry placed the total number of cases at 97,67,371 and the death toll at 1,41,772. The ministry said that 92,53,306 people have so far recovered from the infection.