Coronavirus news highlights: West Bengal reports 3,639 new Covid-19 cases and 53 deaths

In its most recent update, the Union Health Ministry placed the total number of cases at 90,50,597 and the death toll at 132,726. The Ministry said that 84,78,124 people have so far recovered from the infection. According to Deccan Herald's count, the total number of confirmed positive cases in India reaches 90,86,342 and the death toll stands at 1,33,074

Thank you for following the live coverage of the coronavirus on DH.

For more latest updates, click here

Recent breakthroughs on Covid-19 vaccines offer ray of hope, says UN chief Guterres

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described the recent breakthroughs towards development of Covid-19 vaccines as a "ray of hope” that needs to reach everyone and called on the G-20 nations to support the global collaboration to accelerate development of coronavirus treatments and drugs.

Read more

Kumbh Mela 2021: The next big Covid-19 challenge after Diwali

With the Dussehra-Diwali festivities behind, health authorities and administrators are now bracing themselves for the big challenge of holding a Kumbh Mela in the congested city of Haridwar, which is expected to draw millions of people even as India's Covid-19 counts have started rising days after Diwali.

Read more here

Leaders at G20 meeting face dose of virtual reality

The virtual "gathering" of the Group of 20 rich nations seeks to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic and the faltering global economy -- but in a scaled-down format and without the behind-the-scenes interactions that are the lifeblood of global diplomacy.

Read more here

China, Pakistan support India's call for patent-free Covid-19 vaccine at WTO; US, EU oppose

Notwithstanding New Delhi’s troubled ties with Beijing and Islamabad, India’s move at the World Trade Organization (WTO) seeking exemption for the Covid-19 drugs and vaccines from patent protections received support from China and Pakistan, but opposed by the United States and European Union.

Read more here

Delhi reports 5,879 new Covid-19 cases, 6,963 recoveries, and 111 deaths, according to Delhi Health Department.

West Bengal reports 3,639 new Covid-19 cases, 3,794 discharges, and 53 deaths, says State Health Department.

Former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi's health condition deteriorates due to post-Covid-19 complications

The 86-year old veteran Congress politician, who was on Non-Invasive Ventilation (NIV) since he was admitted at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on November 2 due to post-Covid complications, was put under invasive ventilation, the minister said.

Read more here

Second wave of Covid-19 has hit India: Dr K Sudhakar

The second wave of Covid-19 infection has hit several countries including India. Reports of the second wave of this deadly infection are reported from Ahmedabad and Delhi, stated Medical Education, Health & Family Welfare Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

Read more here

Maharashtra reports 5,760 new Covid-19 cases, 4,088 recoveries & 62 deaths. The total number of cases in the state is 17,74,455. There are 79,873 active cases in the state and 16,47,004 patients have recovered so far. The death toll is at 46,573.

Mumbai reports 1092 new Covid-19 cases, 1053 recoveries/discharges and 17 deaths today. Total cases here rise to 2,74,572, including 2,51,509 recoveries/discharges and 10,654 deaths. Active cases stand at 9,325.

Karnataka reports 1,781 new Covid-19 cases,1,799 discharges and 20 deaths today. Total cases in the state rise to 8,71,342, including 8,34,968 discharges and 11,641 deaths. Active cases stand at 24,714.

Russia ready to provide other countries with Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, says Putin

Russia's President Vladimir Putin told G20 leaders on Saturday that Russia was ready to provide its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to other countries who need it.

Russia is also preparing its second and third vaccine, Putin said, adding that creation of vaccine portfolio was "our common goal". (Reuters)

The command hospital of Indian Army's Northern Command achieves milestone of conducting one lakh Covid-19 tests including 35,000 tests for residents of five districts of Jammu and Kashmir: Northern Command.

270 new Covid-19 cases, 193 recoveries, and 1 death reported in Manipur today. Total number of cases now at 23,018 including 19,813 recoveries, 2,972 active cases and 233 deaths. The recovery rate is 86.07%.

In phase 3, we'll see if COVAXIN is effective enough to prevent the disease. Out of 1000 people recruited, we'll give vaccine to 50% of them and placebo to others: Dr E Venkata Rao, Principal investigator of COVAXIN trial at Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Bhubaneswar.

Amid the fresh surge of Covid-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan has said that all the officials concerned have been directed to ensure that minimum 15 contacts of each positive patient must be identified and tested as per the Covid-19 guidelines: State govt.

Covid-19: Shimla district administration orders closure of shops/markets on Sunday; shops selling groceries, milk, fruits, vegetables, meat, medicines, and restaurants exempted.

57 civil service officer trainees test positive for Covid-19 at LBSNAA

Fifty-seven of 428 civil service officer trainees at the at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie have tested positive for Covid-19, the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said on Saturday.

Read more here

Private hospitals fleecing Covid-19 patients due to absence of guidelines: Parliamentary panel

Inadequate beds in government hospitals and absence of guidelines on treatment haveresulted in private health facilities fleecing Covid-19 patients, while poor contact tracing and less testing appeared to have aided the surge in cases, a Parliamentary panel said on Saturday.

Read more here

1,515 new Covid-19 cases, 1,271 discharges/recoveries, and 9 deaths have been reported in Gujarat in the last 24 hours.

Country has rallied behind PM in fight against Covid-19: Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the country had rallied behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and it was doing better than even developed countries over the handling of the contagion.

Read more here

Covid-19: Goa govt to study SOPs to monitor travellers from Delhi

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said he has written to the state health secretary asking him to consult his counterpart in Maharashtra about steps taken for people arriving from Delhi.

Read more here

India crosses a landmark milestone in testing with more than 13 crores tests. 10,66,022 samples were tested in the last 24 hours which has increased India’s total cumulative tests to 13,06,57,808: Ministry of Health.

5772 new Covid-19 cases, 6719 recoveries and 25 deaths have been reported in Kerala today. Total number of active cases now at 66,856; so far 4,88,437 patients have recovered. Death toll stands at 2022.

608 new Covid-19 cases reported in Jammu and Kashmir today; 311 from Jammu division and 297 from the Kashmir division.Total number of cases now at 1,05,984 including 5,720 active cases, 98,640 recoveries, and 1,624 deaths: Government of J&K.

Following Delhi CM's order, 411 ICU beds have been added for Covid-19 patients in hospitals of state and the Central governments in last five days. This includes beds in several private hospitals to increase reservation for ICU beds in private hospitals up to 80%: Delhi government

Bengal’s first clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine may begin in December

West Bengal is all set for the first clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine in the state. The phase III clinical trial of the indigenous Covaxin will be conducted at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) in Kolkata.

Read more here

Pvt hospitals charged exorbitant fees; spending on health abysmally low, say Parliamentary panel on Covid-19

Amid rising Covid-19 cases, inadequate beds in government hospitals and absence of specific guidelines for Covid treatment resulted in private hospitals charging exorbitant fees, a parliamentary panel on Saturday said, asserting that a sustainable pricing model could have averted many deaths.

Read more here

33 officer trainees test Covid-19 positive at Mussoorie-based civil services training academy

As many as 33 civil services officer trainees have tested positive for coronavirus at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) at Mussoorie, prompting authorities to close "all non-essential departments" there.

Read more here

Unilever to release mouthwash that claims to reduce 99.9% coronavirus after rinsing

"Unilever has confirmed that preliminary lab test results show that mouthwash formulation containing CPC Technology reduces 99.9 per cent of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, after 30 seconds of rinsing," the company said in a statement.

Read more here

Covid-19: Singapore, Hong Kong to go ahead with air travel bubble

Singapore has said that an air travel bubble with Hong Kong would proceed as planned on Sunday but there will be additional precautionary measures imposed as new coronavirus cases in the Chinese-ruled semi-autonomous global finance hub rise.

Read more here

Punjab ready to help Delhi government to fight Covid crisis, says CM Singh

Singh lauded the healthcare and frontline workers of Punjab for their “excellent” work in handling the pandemic in the state. He assured full preparedness by his government to augment healthcare facilities to prepare for a possible second wave of the pandemic.

Read more here

Covid-19 positivity rate stands at nearly 8% in Indore at 37,115 total cases. Recovery rate has fallen and currently stands at 90.7% with 33,693 recoveries. We're expecting a rise in cases due to weather change & flouting of norms during festival season: Nodal Officer, Indore, MP.

278 more Covid-19 positive cases have been reported on November 20, taking the total count of active cases in Bihar to 5,881: State Health Department

Covid-19: Maharashtra eyes suspension of trains, flights to Delhi

The Maharashtra government is toying with the idea of suspending train and flight operations to and from Delhi in view of the rising coronavirus cases in the national capital, a senior official said on Saturday.

Read more here

Recent breakthroughs on Covid-19 vaccines offer ray of hope, says UN chief Guterres

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has described the recent breakthroughs towards development of Covid-19 vaccines as a "ray of hope” that needs to reach everyone and called on the G-20 nations to support the global collaboration to accelerate development of coronavirus treatments and drugs.

Read more

Goa schools reopen for Classes 10, 12 amid Covid-19 protocols

Schools for Classes 10 and 12 in Goa reopened on Saturday after being shut for nearly eight months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, officials said.

Read more

Indian-American doctor identifies possible Covid-19 treatment

An Indian-American scientist has discovered a potential strategy to prevent life-threatening inflammation, lung damage and organ failure in patients diagnosed with Covid-19.

Read more

Don't play politics over Covid-19 vaccination: Dr Yatheendra Siddaramaiah

Varuna MLA Dr Yatheendra Siddaramaiah called the political party leaders not to play politics over vaccination for Covid-19.

Read more

One-fourth of Uttar Pradesh's active Covid-19 cases are in its eight NCR districts

Uttar Pradesh's eight districts that lie in the National Capital Region (NCR) account for over 25 per cent or one-fourth of the state's active Covid-19 cases and nearly 11 per cent of the deaths linked to the disease, according to official data.

Read more

CanSino says spiking Covid-19 infections are speeding up its vaccine test

CanSino Biologics Inc. said surging coronavirus infections around the world will allow it to quickly reach an interim milestone to analyze the efficacy of its single-shot vaccine.

Read more

Arunachal Pradesh reports 25 new Covid-19 cases, 70 recoveries. Infection tally rises to 16,001. The state now has 1,082 active cases of the disease.

Puducherry reports 65 new Covid-19 cases, 82 recoveries. Total infection count reaches 36,648. There are 602 active cases of the disease in the Union Territory.

South Australia was on track on Saturday to end its hard Covid-19 lockdown three days early, recording only one new infection, while other states marked weeks of no new cases or deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

Give Rs 30L compensation to teacher's kin who died of Covid-19: MLC

MLC S L Bhoje Gowda has urged the state government to release compensation of Rs 30 lakh to teacher Padmakshi who succumbed to Covid-19 infection. The government should also hand over Rs 4.50 lakh that was paid to a private hospital as an advance for her treatment.

Read more

Uttarakhand: Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie sealed for 2 days after 33 trainees found Covid-19 positive.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands reports 13 new Covid-19 cases, 10 recoveries. Infection tally rises to 4,617. The archipelago now has 148 active cases of the disease.

Telangana reported 925 new Covid-19 cases, 1,367 recoveries & 3 deaths on November 20. Total number of positive cases now at 2,62,653 including 2,49,157 recoveries, 12,070 active cases & 1,426 deaths.

Jharkhand reports 185 new Covid-19 cases, two more fatalities. Infection tally rises to 1,07,157, death toll reaches 939. The state now has 2,594 active cases of the disease.

India's active coronavirus caseload stands at 4,397,47 with 93.60% recovery rate.

49,715 recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours taking the recovery tally to 84,78,124.

With 564 new fatalities, the death toll rose to 1,32,726.

With 45,232 new cases, India's Covid-19 tally crossed 90.5 lakh.

AstraZeneca starts new Covid-19 prevention trials of antibody cocktail

AstraZeneca started late-stage trials on Saturday of an experimental long-acting monoclonal antibody combination drug it hopes could be used as a so-called prophylactic to prevent Covid-19 infection in at-risk people for up to 12 months.

Read more

Hindu devotees worship the Sun god in an artificial pond during the religious festival of Chhath Puja, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease. Credit: Reuters Photo

G20 urged to fill $4.5 bn gap in global Covid-19 vaccine fund

G20 nations must help plug a $4.5 billion funding gap for a WHO-led program to distribute coronavirus vaccines and pave the way for an end to the pandemic, a letter seen by AFP on Friday said.

Read more

40 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to be available by the end of the year: White House

The Trump administration is ready with a plan to distribute Covid-19 vaccine across the country as soon as the US Food and Drug Administration gives the necessary Emergency Use Authorisation to them, the White House said on Friday.

Read more

Donald Trump's son Don Jr tests positive for Covid-19

US President Donald Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr has tested positive for Covid-19 and has been quarantining without symptoms, a spokesman said Friday.

Read more

Pfizer applies for emergency USFDA approval for Covid-19 vaccine

Drugmaker Pfizer said Friday that it had submitted an application to the Food and Drug Administration to authorise its coronavirus vaccine for emergency use, setting in motion an accelerated regulatory process that could allow the first Americans to get a vaccine by the middle of December.

Read more

Mainland China reported 16 new Covid-19 cases on November 20, down from 17 the previous day, with seven cases of local transmission and nine cases originating overseas, the country's health authority said on Saturday.

PM Modi holds meeting to review Covid-19 vaccination strategy; priority groups being identified

With five vaccines in advanced stages of development in India, Government has started identifying priority groups for Covid-19 vaccination like health workers, frontline workers and other vulnerable groups, a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review India's vaccination strategy was told on Friday.

Read more

Bengaluru's Apollo Gospital to deploy gene editing-based Covid-19 test

The city’s Apollo Hospital is among eight in the country where the world’s first gene-editing tool (CRISPR Cas-9)-based Covid-19 diagnostic test will be available in the next few weeks.

Read more

Daily Covid-19 deaths in US reach highest level since May

The surging coronavirus is taking an increasingly dire toll across the US just as a vaccine appears at hand, with the country now averaging over 1,300 Covid-19 deaths per day — the highest since the calamitous spring in and around New York City.

Read more

Mexico's health ministry on Friday reported 6,426 new confirmed coronavirus infections in the country and 719 deaths, bringing the official totals to 1,025,969 cases and 100,823 dead.

Good morning, readers. Welcome to your live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.