Coronavirus news highlights: PM Modi to launch pan-India rollout of Covid-19 vaccination drive on Jan 16 at 10:30 am

India reported 16,946 new Covid-19 cases, 17,652 discharges, and 198 deaths in the last 24 hours. As the recoveries continued to outnumber the new positive cases, the recovery rate climbed to 96.52%

Covid vaccination drive on Jan 16 but questions remain; drive set to be flagged off by PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday morning will launch the campaign at 3,006 session sites across all the states and Union Territories and around 100 beneficiaries would be vaccinated at each site. Healthcare workers, both in government and private sectors including ICDS workers, will receive the vaccine in this phase.

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Gujarat reports 570 new Covid-19 cases, 737 recoveries; 3 die

The coronavirus tally in Gujarat rose to 2,54,314 on Thursday with the addition of 570 new cases, the state health department said.

With three more deaths, the total Covid-19 fatalities in the state increased to 4,357, it said.

The number of recovered cases went up to 2,42,901 with 737 more patients getting discharged from hospitals during the day, said the department in a release.

With this, the state's recovery rate rose further to 95.51 per cent, it said.

Gujarat Covid-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 2,54,314, new cases 570, deaths 4,357, active cases 7,056, people tested so far figure not released.

(PTI)

Swiss nursing home hit by British Covid-19 variant outbreak

Three-quarters of a nursing home's residents and half its workers have been infected with the coronavirus variant first found in Britain, a Swiss regional government said on Thursday.

The Italian-speaking canton of Ticino said a series of infections occurred in rapid succession as well as a re-infection. This prompted health officials to conduct genetic sequencing, which confirmed the British variant was circulating.

"This sweep test had confirmed a rapid spread of the outbreak, with around half the staff and three-quarters of the guests positive, despite the protective measures put in place," the cantonal government said in a statement.

"The home for the elderly has meanwhile been closed for visits."

Switzerland has reported dozens of cases of the highly infectious British variant, including in the mountain town of Wengen. There, a single British tourist is thought to have brought the mutated virus into the region, resulting in the cancellation of World Cup ski races this weekend.

(Reuters)

Covid-19 prompts rethink of mass tourism

The coronavirus pandemic has forced famous tourist destinations to question their business model, though economic realities are likely to stand in the way of major changes.

Nature has quickly replaced hordes of visitors at sites like Machu Picchu in Peru, where sightings of elusive Andean bears have caused a buzz among conservationists.

And in Thailand, which has seen a drop in arrivals of more than 83 percent, marine fauna including dugongs, turtles and whale sharks are enjoying a rebound.

The Thai government has decided to close more than 150 national parks for an average of three months a year and to limit access so that animal and plant life can flourish.

(AFP)

3,579 new cases in Maharashtra today

• 3,309 patients discharged today; 18,77,588 COVID-19 patients discharged after full recovery
until today; Recovery rate in the state is 94.75%
• 3,579 new cases in the state today
• 70 COVID-19 deaths reported in the state today. Case fatality rate is the state is 2.54%.
• Out of 1,36,23,298 laboratory samples, 19,81,623 have been tested positive (14.55%) for
COVID-19 until today.
• Currently 1,96,829 people are in home quarantine and 2,403 people are in institutional
quarantine.
I. Active cases in the state:
As on today, there are 52,558 active cases in the state.

PM Modi will launch pan-India rollout of COVID vaccination drive

PM Modi will launch pan-India rollout of COVID vaccination drive on Jan 16 at 10:30am via video conferencing. Total 3006 session sites across all States/UTs to be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries to be vaccinated at each session site on Jan 16: PMO

India to treat homegrown Covid-19 vaccine same as AstraZeneca's

The government on Saturday will launch one of the world's biggest vaccination programmes with shots manufactured in India -- one developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc, the other by Bharat Biotech International Ltd with a state-run institute.

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Serum Institute expects WHO emergency approval for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine Novavax soon

Poonawalla also said his company, the world's biggest vaccine maker, would start stockpiling millions of doses of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine candidate from around April.

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Britain's Andy Murray tests positive for Covid-19, Australian Open participation in doubt

The 3-time Grand Slam champion pulled out of the Delray Beach Open in Florida earlier this month to reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19.

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Serum Institute expects WHO emergency approval for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine Novavax soon

"The emergency use licensure from the WHO (World Health Organization) should be available and coming through in the next week or two, hopefully, because we have submitted everything," Adar Poonawalla told the Reuters Next conference on Thursday.

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Mexico, Central America cite COVID-19 concern over migration

he Mexican government has said that it and 10 other countries in North and Central America are worried about the health risks of COVID-19 among migrants without proper documents.

The statement, on Wednesday, by the 11-member Regional Conference on Migration suggests that Mexico and Central America could continue to turn back migrants on the basis of the perceived risks of the pandemic.

The group “expressed concern over the exposure of irregular migrants to situations of high risk to their health and their lives, primarily during the health emergency.”

(AP)

Chinese COVID-19 vaccine Ad5-Ncov shows high antibody levels at Russian trial -Ifax

Russian pharmaceutical company Petrovax on Thursday said 92.5% of Russian volunteers in trials of the Chinese Ad5-Ncov vaccine against COVID-19 had shown high levels of antibodies, the Interfax news agency reported.

Ad5-nCoV is a candidate vaccine co-developed by CanSino Biologics and a Chinese military-backed research unit.

(Reuters)

Testing snag keeps two WHO members on the way to China in Singapore

Two experts on an international mission to investigate the origins of Covid-19 in China are still in Singapore after testing positive for Covid antibodies, the WHO said Thursday.

The World Health Organization said earlier that the international team of experts had landed in Wuhan for the long-delayed mission, but it later tweeted that two had yet to make it there.

"Two scientists are still in #Singapore completing tests for #COVID19," the UN health body said in a tweet. (AFP)

Thane district sees 413 new cases, four deaths

The Covid-19 tally in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 2,48,170 with the detection of 413 new cases, an official said on Thursday.

Besides these new cases reported on Wednesday, four more people also died of the viral infection, raising the Covid-19 toll in the district to 6,042, he said.

The Covid-19 fatality rate in the district stands at 2.43 per cent, he said.

So far, 2,37,977 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the infection, taking the recovery rate to 95.89 per cent.

Telangana clocks 276 new Covid infections, two deaths

Telangana clocked 276 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the total infection count to nearly 2.91 lakh while one fatality pushed the toll to 1,572. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 53, followed by Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri with 23 and 18 respectively, a government bulletin said on Thursday providing details as of 8 pm on January 13.

Kolkata to receive largest share of Bengal's Covishield vaccines

Kolkata has been allocated the highest number of Covidvaccines in West Bengal, at 93,500, for the first phase of the vaccination drive scheduled to begin on January 16, a senior health official said on Thursday.

North 24 Parganas district has been allocated the second-highest number of Covidvaccines at 47,000, followed by Murshidabad at 37,500, he said. (PTI)

25,164 new confirmed Covid cases in Germany; case tally nearing 2 million

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 25,164 to 1,978,590, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday.

The reported death toll rose by 1,244 to 43,881, the tally showed.

Coronavirus fails to deter India's massive Ganges pilgrimage

Hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims descended on the banks of the Ganges river Thursday trusting in faith rather than masks to shield them against the coronavirus pandemic during the giant Kumbh Mela festival.

Up to one million people were expected in the city of Haridwar for the first day of the pilgrimage, even though India has the world's second highest number of cases, more than 10 million, and has recorded more than 150,000 deaths.

Most of the hordes, aged between three and over 80, who walked into the revered but freezing river in the morning mist did not have masks and social distancing was an organisational nightmare. (AFP)

24,500 Covishield vaccine doses arrives in Mangaluru

Ahead of the massive Covid-19 vaccination drive, 24,500 Covishield vaccine doses arriveat Ayush hospital on Thursday.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Ramachandra Bairy toldDHthat these vaccine doses will be shifted to 89 centres, set up under government sector, across the district.

The process of administering vaccine for 52,381 personnel from the health sector, registered with the department, is likely to begin from Saturday.

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Jharkhand sees 152 new cases, no new deaths; case tally climbs to 1.172L

Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally rose to 1,17,240 as 152 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Thursday.

The coronavirus death toll remained at 1,048 in the state as no new fatality due to the infection was reported in the last 24 hours, he said.

The new cases include 77 from Ranchi district, East Singhbhum (15) and Hazaribag (12), he said. (PTI)

272 new Covid-19 cases, two deaths in Thailand

Thailand on Thursday confirmed 271 new coronavirus cases bringing the total number of reported infections to 11,262 since it detected its first case a year ago.

There were two additional deaths, taking total fatalities to 69. Twelve of the new infections were imported, the Covid-19 taskforce said. (Reuters)

WHO expert team arrive in Wuhan amid China's first virus death in months

A team of experts from the World Health Organization arrived in Wuhan on Thursday to start a highly politicised probe into the origins of the coronavirus, as China reported its first death from Covid-19 in eight months.

The 10 scientists, who must complete a two-week quarantine in Wuhan before starting their work, arrived for their much-delayed mission to examine the orgins of the pandemic.

The virus was first detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has since billowed out across the world killing nearly two million people so far, infecting tens of millions and eviscerating the global economy.

State broadcaster CGTN showed the plane carrying the team arrive from Singapore to be met by Chinese officials in full hazmat suits.

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State-wise tally of India's Covid-19 cases

India reports 16,946 new Covid-19 infections, 17,652 recoveries, and 198 deaths

Total cases: 1,05,12,093

Active cases: 2,13,603

Total discharges: 1,01,46,763

Death toll: 1,51,727

At least 3.57 lakh healthcare workers in Karnataka to get Covid-19 vaccine now

With 1,46,750 Covishield vaccine doses arriving in Belagavi on Wednesday morning, the state now has 7,93,710 doses at its disposal including those that were received in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The state put out a district-wise vaccine distribution plan in which the highest allocation has been made to BBMP limits with 2,10,080 vaccine doses.

Dasappa Referral Hospital was stocked with 1,05,000 Covishield doseson Monday evening. Out of 760 vaccination sites identified in BBMP limits, six willtake part in thevaccination rollout on January 16: Victoria Hospital, KC General Hospital, CV Raman General Hospital, Jayanagar General Hospital, St John's Medical College and Mallasandra Primary Health Centre.

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About 3 lakh healthcare workers to get vaccine shots on 1st day of COVID-19 inoculation drive

Around 3 lakh healthcare workers will be inoculated at 2,934 sites across the country on the first day of the massive nationwide Covid

-19 vaccination drive which is set to begin from January 16, official sources said.

Each vaccination session will cater to a maximum of 100 beneficiaries and the Union Health Ministry has advised states not to organise "unreasonable numbers of vaccination per site per day".

"States have been advised to organise vaccination sessions taking into account 10 per cent reserve/wastage doses and an average of 100 vaccinations per session each day.

Mizoram reports 7 new Covid-19 cases

Mizoram reported 7 new Covid-19cases in the last 24 hours, as per state government. Total cases: 4,310 Active cases: 101 Discharges: 4,200 Deaths: 9

Kerala actor among UK flyers who tested Covid-19 positive in Bengaluru

Among the two new international passengers who tested positive for the new UK variant of the novel coronavirus is a popular Malayalam actress who landed in the city to catch a connecting flight to Kerala.

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Bengaluru gets 20,000 doses of Covaxin for health workers

One thousand vials of Covaxin, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech, arrived at thestate vaccine store atAnand Rao Circle here on Wednesday. Each vial contains 20 doses.

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About 3 lakh healthcare workers to get vaccine shots on first day of Covid-19 inoculation drive

Around 3 lakh healthcare workers will be inoculated at 2,934 sites across the country on the first day of the massive nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive which is set to begin from January 16, official sources said.

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UK reports new daily high of 1,564 Covid-19 deaths, second wave now more deadly

Britain reported 1,564 new deaths within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19 on Wednesday, a record daily toll, meaning more have died in the second wave of the pandemic than the first wave last year, a health official said.

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