Coronavirus news highlights: India's Covid-19 positivity rate stood at 1.97% with less than 2.5 lakh active cases, says MoHFW

Daily new Covid-19 cases in the country remained below 20,000 for the fourth consecutive day yesterday taking the virus caseload to 10,356,844, while the recoveries surged to 99.75 lakh. A total of 16,375 people tested positive for coronavirus infection yesterday. The death toll increased to 1,49,850 with 201 new fatalities. Stay tuned to DH for the latest updates.

A health worker takes part in a dry run as part of preparedness for the administration of COVID-19 vaccine at Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021. Credit: PTI Photo

PM Modi had a telephone conversation today with the PM of UK Boris Johnson

PM Modi had a telephone conversation today with the PM of UK Boris Johnson. PM Johnson reiterated his thanks for India's invitation for him as Chief Guest of Republic Day celebrations but regretted his inability to attend in view of changed Covid-19 context prevailing in UK: PMO

A 'dry run' will be conducted on January 7, 2021, across the state in all the districts, on six sites, including three urban and three rural sites, from 11 am to 1 pm: Haryana Government

Lockdowns keep European equities confined

Fresh lockdowns and slow vaccination campaigns kept European stocks on the back foot Tuesday, while Wall Street rose as key runoff elections were being held.

London stocks held flat in afternoon deals after the UK government implemented new national restrictions set to last weeks -- but also announced an extra £4.6-billion package for virus-battered businesses.

In afternoon eurozone deals, Frankfurt and Paris were both down close to 1.0 percent as Germany was set to extend a shutdown in Europe's top economy and the French government scrambled to speed up a slow rollout of Covid-19 vaccines.

(AFP)

A man feeds seagulls along the embankment, near Tower Bridge, as Britain enters a national lockdown in London on Jan 5.

England's six-week lockdown, which began at midnight, emulates the first national coronavirus curbs in place from March to June -- but goes further than another instituted in November when schools remained open.

Credit: AFP Photo

Tamil Nadu reported 820 new Covid-19 cases

Tamil Nadu reported 820 new Covid-19 cases, 971 discharges, and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours: State Health Department

Total cases: 8,22,370

Total discharges: 8,02,385

Death toll: 12,177

Active cases: 7,808

Maharashtra reports 3,160 new Covid-19 cases

Maharashtra reports 3,160 new Covid-19 cases, 2,828 discharges, and 64 deaths today, as per State Health Department

Total cases: 19,50,171

Total recoveries: 18,50,189

Total active cases: 49,067

Total Deaths: 49,759

India to get first shots of Covid-19 vaccine on Jan 13

The Health Ministry on Tuesday said it is prepared to roll out Covid-19 vaccine within 10 days from date of emergency use authorisation, which was issued on January 3, but noted that the final decision lies with the government.

Addressing a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said healthcare workers and frontline workers need not register themselves as their database has been populated on to the Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system in a bulk manner.

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J&K reports 137 new coronavirus cases, 6 deaths

Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday recorded 137 new Covid-19 cases, while six deaths took place in the last 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 1,21,923 and the death toll to 1,897, officials said.

Of the fresh cases, 71 were from Jammu division and 66 from Kashmir division of the Union territory, they said.

The officials said Jammu district recorded the highest with 49 cases followed by 22 in Srinagar district.

While five districts -- Kulgam, Poonch, Rajouri, Shopian and Reasi -- did not report any fresh cases, 11 other districts had fresh cases in single digits.

UK PM Johnson cancels India visit, citing need to oversee coronavirus response

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday cancelled a planned trip to India later this month, citing the need to oversee the pandemic response at home.

"The prime minister spoke to Prime Minister Modi this morning, to express his regret that he will be unable to visit India later this month as planned," a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

Overall burden on health system in India due to Covid-19 has declined, says Health Ministry

Over half of the active Covid-19 cases are in home isolation: Health Ministry

Twenty more people in India test positive for UK strain of Covid-19

Twenty more people have tested positive for the new UK variant of SARS-CoV-2, taking the total number of such cases in the country to 58.

The new cases have been identified at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune.

"The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus first reported in the UK now stands at 58," the Union Health Ministry said.

All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated Health Care facilities by respective state governments.

UK in tough new lockdown to tackle surging new Covid-19 variant

The UK entered a tough new stay-at-home lockdown on Tuesday after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it has been “both frustrating and alarming” to see the speed with which the new variant of the coronavirus is spreading and declared that hospitals in the country are under more pressure from the deadly virus than at any time in the pandemic.

While Scotland’s new rules, which involve school and business closures become legal from Tuesday, England’s rules -- akin to the stringent measures of the first wave of the pandemic in March 2020 -- become law in the early hours of Wednesday. However, Johnson has urged the public to begin following the strict work from home rules right away.

India's Covid-19 active caseload down to 2.31 lakh

India's Covid-19 active caseload, which has been falling steadily, stands at 2,31,036 and accounts for a "paltry" 2.23 per cent of the total infections reported so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

This has been made possible as daily recoveries are outnumbering new infections for 39 days in a row, the ministry stated.

"Against 29,091 people who recovered in a 24-hour window, India reported only 16,375 new cases, maintaining a steady level of testing.

10 states, UTs responsible for 80% of new cases: MoHFW data

Odisha records 198 positive cases for Covid-19

Odisha'sCovid-19 tally on Tuesday mounted to 3,30,690 after 198 more people tested positive for the infection, while two fresh fatalities took the toll to 1,887, a health department official said.

Of the 198 new cases, 115 were reported from various quarantine centres, and the rest detected during contact tracing, the official said. (PTI)

9 test positive for Covid in Arunachal Pradesh, all but three asymptomatic

TheCovid-19 tally in Arunachal Pradesh rose to 16,741 as nine more people tested positive for the disease in the last 24 hours, a health department official said on Tuesday.

Of the fresh cases, four were reported from East Siang district, three from the Capital Complex region and one each from Tawang and Lepa Rada.

Barring three, all the new patients were asymptomatic, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said. (PTI)

Two BSF personnel Covid-19 positive as 11 new cases emerge in Mizoram

At least 11 people, including two Border Security Force personnel, have tested positive forCovid-19 in Mizoram, taking the tally in the state to 4,234, a health department official said on Tuesday.

Of the fresh cases, eight were reported from Aizawl district, two from Lunglei and one from Kolasib, he said.

Ten new patients have travel history, and it is yet to be ascertained how the remaining one person contracted the disease, the official said. (PTI)

Puducherry records 47 Covid-19 cases; no deaths

Puducherry recorded 47 fresh cases of coronavirus on Tuesday pushing up the overall tally to 38,300, the health department said. \

The new cases were identified at the end of screening of 3827 samples in the last 24 hours ending 10 am on Tuesday. No fresh fatality was reported from any of the four regions of Union Territory.

Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said 31 patients recovered and were discharged from hospitals today. (PTI)

No new infections, 2 new recoveries in Andaman and Nicobar

Andaman and Nicobar Islands did not record a single freshCovid-19 case in the last 24 hours, a health department official said on Tuesday.

The coronavirus tally in the Union Territory remained at 4,948, while a total of 62 people have so far died due to the contagion, he said.

Two persons were cured of the disease since Monday, taking the total number of recoveries in the archipelago to 4,848, the official said.

The Union Territory now has 38 active cases. (PTI)

Thailand registers 527 new Covid-19 infections; tightens restrictions in 5 provinces

Thailand confirmed 527 new coronavirus infections on Tuesday and ramped up restrictions in five provinces deemed high-risk in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

The new cases include 439 in a known cluster of migrant workers in the southwestern province of Samut Sakhon near Bangkok, Taweesin Wisanuyothin, spokesman for Thailand'sCovid-19 taskforce, told a news conference.

Restrictions will be intensified in Samut Sakhon and four other provinces, he said. Thailand has reported a total of 8,966Covid-19 cases since early last year.

Britain lockdown to be in place till mid-February

Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed a strict new national lockdown Monday as Britain’s desperate race to vaccinate its population risked being overtaken by a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus that was on track to overwhelm the nation’s beleaguered hospitals.

After several days of frighteningly high and escalating case numbers, Johnson ordered schools and colleges in England to close their doors and shift to remote learning. He appealed to Britons to stay at home for all but a few necessary purposes, including essential work and buying food and medicine.

The nationwide restrictions, officials warned, will remain in place until at least the middle of February.

Twenty more in India test positive for UK coronavirus strain

Twenty more persons tested Covid-19 positive with the UK strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus, taking the total number of infections of the mutant strain in India to 58, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The Centre hasadvised states to step up surveillanceand containment measures.

On Tuesday, 11 samples of the mutant strain were detected at IGIB, New Delhi, 10 at NIMHANS-Bengaluru, 8 at NCDC-New Delhi, 25 at NIV-Pune, 1 at NIBMG-Kolkata and 3 at CCMB-Hyderabad.

The additional 20 Covid-19 caseswith the new virus strain were all tested at NIV-Pune.

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Covid-19 related deaths in South Korea surpasses 1000-mark figure

The number of deaths linked to the coronavirus in South Korea passed 1,000 on Tuesday, while an increasing number of gym owners said they would reopen in protest against strict social distancing rules.

After using aggressive testing and tracing to blunt several earlier waves of the coronavirus without widespread lockdowns, South Korea has imposed increasingly strident social distancing rules as it struggles to stop its largest wave yet.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 28 new deaths and 715 new cases, for a total of 1,007 deaths and 64,979 cases overall.

10 cases of UK variant of Coronavirus present in Paris

The new variant of theCoronavirus is present in Paris, Martin Hirsch, director general of the Paris hospitals system, told France 2 television on Tuesday.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran had earlier told RTL radio that there were around 10 cases in France at present of the new UK variant ofCoronvirus.

India reports 16,375 new coronavirus cases and 201 new deaths, taking the tally to 10,356,844 and death toll to 149,850. This the lowest daily increase in cases since June 2020 and lowest rise in deaths due to Covid-19 since June 1, 2020.

The total number of samples tested up to January 4 is 17,65,31,997 including 8,96,236 samples tested yesterday: ICMR

Here is DH's Covid-19 India Tracker

US screened 500 million fewer airport passengers in 2020 due to drop in air travel caused by Covid-19

The US government screened 500 million fewer people at US airport checkpoints in 2020, down 61% over 2019, as air travel slowed sharply during the coronavirus pandemic, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said on Monday.

The TSA said it screened 324 million passengers throughout its airport security checkpoints in 2020, down from 824 million passengers screened in 2019. In recent weeks, travel has rebounded slightly. On Sunday, TSA screened 1.327 million people at airport checkpoints, the most since mid-March, but still down 45% from the same day in 2020.

TSA said in a statement it anticipates "daily travel volumes will continue to rise steadily and follow seasonal patterns. However, the agency expects volume will remain well below pre-pandemic levels through most of 2021."

New York, Florida tell hospitals to speed Covid-19 vaccinations or lose supply

The governors of New York and Florida sought to accelerate the slower-than-expected rollout of coronavirus vaccines by warning hospitals on Monday that they would reduce future allocations to those that fail to dispense shots quickly enough.

In New York, hospitals must administer vaccines within a week of receiving them or face a fine and loss of future supplies, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, hours before announcing the state's first known instance of a new, more infectious coronavirus variant that was first detected in Britain.

EDITORIAL | Covid-19 vaccine approvals: Transparency is key

That at least one, and potentially two, Covid-19 vaccines could be ready for a mass roll out in the next few months is indeed a good start to the new year. Yet, the fact that regulatory approvals have been granted, even if they are only emergency authorisations, to the Oxford University-AstraZeneca-Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin even before their phase 3 trial data is available has caused concern over the seeming haste.

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Coronavirus pandemic has turned the clock back by many years: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the coronavirus pandemic has turned the clock back by many years and the lockdowns have raised insurmountable barriers and imposed many roadblocks.

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In deadliest week so far, US loses more than 18,400 lives to Covid-19

December was the deadliest month of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States with nearly 78,000 deaths, and health officials warned that even more people will likely die in January despite the rollout of vaccines.

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Covid-19: Boris Johnson announces new national lockdown in UK for 6 weeks

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a six-week lockdown for England's 56 million people, including the closure of schools, after a surge in coronavirus cases brought warnings that hospitals could soon face collapse.

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Misleading claims on efficacy, questions on rollout cast shadow on India's Covid-19 vaccination campaign

Misleading government claims on efficacy and unanswered questions on the mysterious vaccine rollout “in a clinical trial mode” have cast a shadow on India’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign which is about to take off as one of the world’s biggest adult mass inoculation drives.

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