Coronavirus news highlights: Maharashtra reports 3,145 new Covid-19 cases; death toll reaches 50,336

India sees 15,190 new cases of Covid-19 and 191 deaths. With 15,975 discharges, the recoveries continued to outnumber the positive cases. Meanwhile, in Karnataka, all degree, polytechnic, and diploma colleges are set to reopen today for offline classes. Students still have the option to choose between online and offline classes, a majority of whom are believed to have opted for the latter. With a number of states having received their consignment of Covid-19 vaccines, India is all set to begin the world's largest vaccination drive on January 16. Stay tuned for more updates...

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4,000 health workers to get Covid-19 vaccine in Mumbai daily

As many as 4,000 health workers will be administered Covid-19 vaccine every day at nine vaccination centres in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Friday.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will launch the vaccination drive from a centre at Bandra Kurla Complex on Saturday, the civic body stated in an official release.

The vaccination will start at Vile Parle-based Dr R N Cooper Hospital, it was stated. -PTI

Covid vaccination will be conducted at 7 sites in Jabalpur tomorrow. 24,000 healthcare workers have been identified for vaccination in the first phase. In the second phase, frontline workers will be vaccinated: Jabalpur Collector Karmveer Sharma, MP - ANI

Karnataka reported 708 new Covid-19 cases, 643 discharges, and 3 deaths today -ANI

Karnataka reported 708 new Covid-19 cases, 643 discharges, and 3 deaths today.

Total cases: 9,30,668

Total discharges: 9,09,701

Death toll: 12,158

Active cases: 8,790

Six EU states say "situation unacceptable" after Pfizer-BioNTech cuts vaccine deliveries

Six European Union governments asked the executive EU Commission in a letter on Friday to pressure Pfizer-BioNTech, "to ensure stability and transparency of timely deliveries" of vaccines agianst Covid-19.

The letter, signed by the health ministers of Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, said Pfizer/BioNTech had told them that agreed vaccine deliveries in the coming weeks would be substantially reduced. -Reuters

British PM tells public to stay home as deaths soar

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday urged the public to obey the national lockdown as coronavirus deaths continued to rise steeply but new case numbers fell this week.

"Please really think twice before leaving the house this weekend and only do so if it's absolutely necessary," Johnson said in a video posted on Twitter.

The prime minister was expected give a press conference later Friday after the latest government figures showed a 50 per cent rise in weekly deaths, taking the total toll to more than 86,000, the highest in Europe. - AFP

Maharashtra reports 3,145 new Covid-19 cases, tally increases to 19,84,768; death toll reaches 50,336 with 45 fatalities: health official - PTI

Kerala records 5,624 new Covid-19 cases, 4,603 recoveries and 23 deaths. Total numbers of active and recovered cases are 67,496 and 7,65,757 respectively.

French mortality rate rose 9% in 2020 due to Covid-19

France's overall mortality rate in 2020, inflated by the Covid-19 pandemic, was nine percent higher than in the previous two years, provisional data released by statistics institute INSEE showed on Friday.

INSEE said that on Jan. 15, a total of 667,400 deaths from all causes had been registered for 2020 in France - 53,900 more than in 2019.

The highest excess mortality rates were in the Ile-de-France region around Paris and in the east of France, two regions particularly hard hit by the pandemic.

Chhattisgarh has received 3.23 lakh vaccine doses so far. 2.67 lakh beneficiaries registered till now. Vaccination will begin at 97 sites in the state tomorrow: Dr Priyanka Shukla, Director, National Health Mission, Chattisgarh - ANI

Integrated medicine approach shortens Covid-19 patients' stay in hospital: Study

An integrated medicine approach in treating coronavirus patients not only shortened their stay in hospital but also helped the infected recover faster, revealed a study by Siddha doctors initiated when the pandemic was at the peak in Tamil Nadu.

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Have no fear, say those who would be first to get the jab in MP

Haridev Yadav and Asha Pawar, who would be among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccine in Madhya Pradesh, are confident that it is the right thing to do.

The inoculation drive will start at 10.30 am at 150 centers across the state on Saturday alongwith the rest of the country, Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Dr Prabhuram Choudhary said.

Healthcare workers will be the first get the jab at every centre, he said. -PTI

5,624 fresh Covid-19 cases take Kerala's infection tally to 8.36 lakh

Kerala reported 5,624 new Covid-19 cases and 23 related deaths on Friday, taking the caseload to 8,36,883 and the toll to 3,415, the state government said. There were no new cases of Covid-19 reported among the UK returnees to the state, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

Till now, fifty-six UK returnees have tested positive for Covid-19 and nine among them detected with the new strain of the virus, she said in a release here. -PTI

AP's fresh Covid-19 cases drop below 100 mark after 7 months

Fresh Covid-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh fell below the 100-mark for the first time after seven months while the infection count marginally rose to 8,85,710 on Friday. Only 94 new cases were reported from 31,696 samples tested in the 24 hours ending 9 am on Friday, the latest bulletin said. -PTI

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will visit the new OPD Wing of AIIMS tomorrow to join the AIIMS doctors and potential vaccine beneficiaries to participate in and witness the launch of Covid-19 vaccination by Prime Minister at 10.30 am - ANI

Covid-19 vaccination drive to be held at 13 centres in Nashik

The Covid-19 vaccination drive will take place at 13 centres in Maharashtra's Nashik district on January 16, an official said on Friday.

As many as 36,178 healthcare workers from the district will be inoculated in the first phase of the immunisation drive, collector Suraj Mandhare said.

"The district has received 43,440 doses of Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, Pune. A total of 36,178 healthcare workers from the district have registered for vaccination in the first phase," he said. - PTI

Global death toll nears 2 million as WHO battles new virus strains

The worldwide death toll from coronavirus approached two million on Friday, with Europe topping 30 million infections and World Health Organization experts working on advice to fight new, more contagious strains of the disease.

The soaring number of fatalities -- 1,994,833 -- is matched by the spread of infections with Europe recording 30,003,905 cases, nearly a third of the worldwide total, according to an AFP tally based on official statistics.

Adding to the run of terrible milestones, Germany, Europe's biggest economy, hit two million infections. - AFP

India is set to begin the world's biggest vaccination drive tomorrow. This is the beginning of the end of Covid. Both indigenously manufactured vaccines given emergency use approval after scientific scrutiny: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan - ANI

UK Supreme Court rules insurers must compensate firms over lockdown losses

Britain's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that insurers must compensate small businesses forced into last year's initial coronavirus lockdown, potentially a total payout of £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion, 1.3 billion euros).

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Delhi records 295 fresh Covid-19 cases, death toll rises to 10,732 with 10 more fatalities: Authorities - PTI

Russia to reopen schools as Covid-19 case tally passes 3.5 million

Russia will fully reopen schools across the country from next week and the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak may have passed its peak, authorities said on Friday, as the national case tally passed the 3.5 million mark.

Teenage schoolchildren were switched to remote, online learning in October as part of a set of targeted restrictions to curb the spread of the virus that stopped well short of a stringent lockdown like Russia imposed in spring.

All schools are now reopening apart from 10 of them that have been specially quarantined, Education Minister Sergei Kravtsov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency. - Reuters

England cricket team hotel hit by coronavirus cases

The England cricket team were hit by a new coronavirus scare Friday as two staff members tested positive and were hospitalised, officials said.

Epidemiologist Venura Singarachchi told AFP the two kitchen staff at the Light House hotel in the Sri Lankan city of Galle were tested after they showed symptoms.

England are playing two Tests against Sri Lanka in Galle. Despite strict efforts to enforce a bio-secure bubble, they have already seen all-rounder Moeen Ali test positive since arriving in the South Asian nation.

Singarachchi said the two hotel staff had been sent to a treatment centre. "We are now trying to trace their contacts," he added. - AFP

Scientists develop novel vaccine platform that may help prevent future coronavirus pandemics

Scientists have designed a vaccine candidate that induces protection in mice against "a wide range of related coronaviruses," an innovation that may help protect against future pandemic-potential viruses that jump from animals to humans.

The novel 'mosaic nanoparticle' vaccine, described in the journal Science, is shaped like a cage made up of 60 identical proteins, each of which has a small protein tag that functions like a piece of Velcro. -PTI

India took 'very decisive' steps to deal with coronavirus pandemic: IMF chief

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has praised India for taking "very decisive" steps to deal with the coronavirus pandemic and its economic consequences and asked the country to do more this year to support an accelerated transformation of the economy.

Participating in a global media roundtable on Thursday, the chief of the International Monetary Fund predicted a less bad outlook for India in the upcoming World Economic Update due to the steps taken by it. -PTI

WHO-led team in China will start meetings online from quarantine

A World Health Organization-led team investigating the origins of Covid-19 is to begin virtual meetings with their Chinese hosts from a hotel in China's Wuhan, where the pandemic first emerged, on Friday.

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Hopes for Tokyo’s Summer Olympics darken

Plans for the postponed Tokyo Olympic Games are growing more uncertain by the day.

As coronavirus cases rise throughout Japan and in several large countries in Europe and the Americas, officials both in Tokyo and with the International Olympic Committee have begun to acknowledge that holding a safe games might not be possible, endangering dreams that the Olympics could serve as a global celebration of the end of the pandemic.

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Man tests positive for new coronavirus variant in U'khand; first case in state

A man here has tested positive for the new variant of the coronavirus and this the first such case in Uttarakhand, a health official said on Friday.

He had come in contact with five of his relatives who had recently returned to Dehradun from the UK, District Nodal Officer for Covid Rajeev Dikshit said.

Strangely, his relatives have all tested negative for the new variant, but they are Covid-19 positive, he said, adding that the man, in his forties, has never been to Britain. - PTI

China puts 20,000 villagers in central quarantine over coronavirus risk

China has sent over 20,000 rural residents living in the epicentre of the country's latest virus outbreak to state-run quarantine facilities, as Beijing on Friday reported the worst nationwide figures since March.

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As Covid-19 rages, South Africa delays new school year until mid-Feb

South Africa on Friday delayed the start to its new school year by two weeks to February15, in order to prevent schools becoming transmission centres for Covid-19, as new cases have hovered around 20,000 a day for the past week.

School was out for about a third of last year when South Africa was in the grip of its first wave of coronavirus infections. The closures widened an already stark educational divide between elite schools that easily shifted classes online and the rest with little or no capacity for digital learning. (Reuters)

US government executes gang killer despite Covid-19 infection

The US government executed a drug trafficker for his involvement in a series of slayings in Virginias capital city in 1992, despite claims by his lawyers that the lethal injection would cause excruciating pain due to lung damage from his recent Covid-19 infection.

Corey Johnson, 52, was the 12th inmate put to death Thursday at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, since the Trump administration restarted federal executions following a 17-year hiatus. (AP)

India reports 15,590 fresh Covid infections, 191 deaths

India saw 15,590 cases of Covid-19 and 191 deaths due to the coronavirus disease over the last 24 hours, data from the Union health Ministry website showed.

Total Cases: 1,05,27,683

Active Cases:2,13,027

Total discharges:1,01,62,738

Death Toll:1,51,918

Offline classes for all degree, diploma and polytechnic courses in Karnataka from January 15

The degree, engineering, diploma, polytechnic colleges and universities across the state are gearing up to welcome students of all semesters from Friday, January 15.

Following a decision taken by the state government to reopen offline classes for all the semesters from January 15, all colleges have sent communications for students to attend classes from Friday. Interestingly, though there is an option to choose between offline or online classes, the majority of students opted to attend offline classes.

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33 sittings for Budget Session; Question Hour back

Parliament’sBudgetSession will begin on January 29, with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha meeting in separate five-hour shifts to ensure physical distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The full-fledged session would have 33 sittings with Question Hour, short duration discussions, private members’ business and calling attention motions – aspects that were scrapped in the brief monsoon session in September last year.

The government had also scrapped the Winter Session of Parliament – usually held in November-December – citing the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital.

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JNU allows entry of fourth-year PhD, MSc, MCA students on campus

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) will allow entry of fourth-year PhD and MSc and MCA students in its fifth and sixth phase of reopening, from Friday and February 1, officials said.

"PhD students (fourth year only) from all science schools, special centres, other centres (both day scholars and hostlers) who requires access to the laboratory are allowed to enter into the campus from Friday," read a circular issued by JNU registrar Pramod Kumar.

"MSc and MCA students (fourth semester only) from all science schools and special centres (both day scholars and hostlers) who require access to the laboratory are allowed to enter into the campus in sixth phase of reopening starting February 1," he added.

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UK to ban South American, Portugal arrivals over Brazil virus strain

Britain will ban all arrivals from South America, Panama, Cape Verde and Portugal from 0400 GMT Friday over fears of importing a new coronavirus variant in Brazil, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said Thursday.

"I've taken the urgent decision... following evidence of a new variant in Brazil," Shapps said on Twitter, adding there will be an exemption for hauliers travelling from Portugal to allow transport of essential goods.

"This measure does not apply to British and Irish Nationals and third country nationals with residence rights -- but passengers returning from these destinations must self-isolate for TEN DAYS along with their households," he added.

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