Coronavirus news highlights: India reports lowest daily spike in nearly 5 months

India's coronavirus tally on Tuesday went past the 97-lakh mark with the death toll inching closer to 1.5 lakh. Meanwhile, the number of active Covid-19 cases in India dropped below four lakh for the first time in over 4 months. The daily fatalities also fell below 400. On the vaccine front, Bharat Biotech has sought emergency use authorisation from DCGI for its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin. Stay tuned for more updates

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Why vaccinated people still need to wear mask

The new Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna seem to be remarkably good at preventing serious illness. But it’s unclear how well they will curb the spread of the coronavirus.

That’s because the Pfizer and Moderna trials tracked only how many vaccinated people became sick with Covid-19. That leaves open the possibility that some vaccinated people get infected without developing symptoms and could then silently transmit the virus — especially if they come in close contact with others or stop wearing masks.

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Maharashtra reports 4,026 new Covid-19 cases, 6,365 discharges

Maharashtra reports 4,026 new Covid-19cases, 6,365 discharges and 53 deaths today.

Total cases 18,59,367

Total recoveries 17,37,080

Death toll 47,827

Active cases 73,374

Assam reported 94 new Covid-19 cases and 102 discharges today

Assam reported 94 new Covid-19cases and 102 discharges today, says Govt. of Assam. Total cases at2,14,019, while total discharged were 2,09,444. Total deaths amounted to 997 and 3,575active cases were registered.

Europe passes 20 million Covid-19 infections

23 more Covid-19fatalities reported in UP, toll rises to 7,967, caseload climbs to 5,58,173 with 1,824 fresh cases; active case count 21,374

3,188 fresh cases take Delhi's Covid-19 tally to over 5.97 lakh; death toll rises to 9,763 with 57 new fatalities.

Nagaland's Covid-19caseload climbs to 11,479 with detection of 61 new cases, another fatality pushes toll to 70; number of active cases stands at 628.

Hong Kong to impose new coronavirus restrictions to battle fourth wave

Hong Kong will ban evening dining at restaurants and close fitness centres, the city's leader said Tuesday, as part of new measures aimed at stemming a fourth wave of coronavirus infections.

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In England, William Shakespeare receives a Covid-19 vaccine

William Shakespeare from Warwickshire in England was one of the first people to receive the newly approved Covid-19 vaccine outside a clinical trial on Tuesday.

The 81-year-old had the injection at University Hospital Coventry on Tuesday, 20 miles from Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace of his namesake, England's greatest dramatist and poet.

Antibodies in mucous membrane may dominate early Covid-19 immune response

Scientists have assessed the immune response against the novel coronavirus in over 150 Covid-19 patients and found that the antibodies found in the mucous membrane are activated much earlier than other types, an advance which may lead to the development of new vaccines against the disease.

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Puducherry reports 42 new Covid-19 cases. Infection tally rises to 37,311. The number of active cases of the disease stands at 388.

15 fresh cases raise Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands to 4,773; number of active cases stands at 81

UK's 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan becomes world's first person to receive Pfizer/BioNTech jab against Covid-19.

Vaccines: 200 years of progress — and scepticism

Covid-19 has been a shot in the arm for vaccine research with several viable jabs in production less than a year after the disease emerged.

Yet four in 10 Americans and six in 10 French people say they will not get vaccinated against the virus, even if the shot is free.

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UK health minister says he will have the Covid-19 jab when appropriate

British health minister Matt Hancock said that he would have the Covid-19 vaccine when it was appropriate.

"I'm looking forward to having it, I'll have it when it's appropriate," Hancock told LBC radio on Tuesday.

When asked if London would soon be moved into the top tier of coronavirus restrictions, he said that case numbers were going up in parts of London and Londoners should respect current rules.

Para-athletics coach Gajender tests positive for Covid-19

Para-athletics coach Gajender has tested positive for Covid-19 and is under home quarantine, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) said on Tuesday.

Gajender is the coach and husband of para-athlete Simran, who is training at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.

"Gajender who is the coach as well as husband of Para-athlete Simran training at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium tested positive for the coronavirus," SAI said in a release.

British woman, 86, who lost husband to Covid-19 is among first to get vaccine

An 86-year-old British woman, who lost her husband to Covid-19 in April, was among the first in the world to be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against the virus on Tuesday and was looking forward to going shopping and taking the bus again.

Gill Rogers last saw her husband in mid-March at the care home where he was living. Then the pandemic hit, she was no longer able to visit him, and in late April he died.

Russia reports 26,097 new coronavirus cases, 562 deaths

Russia confirmed 26,097 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours on Tuesday, including 5,232 in Moscow, pushing the national tally to 2,515,009.

Authorities said 562 people had died overnight, taking the official death toll to 44,159.

Britain hopes for regulator's verdict on Oxford vaccine in a couple of weeks

Britain hopes that the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine will be approved by the UK's independent regulator, the MHRA, in the coming weeks, said the health minister Matt Hancock.

"We very much hope that that will get approval...We hope that to come through in the next couple of weeks," Hancock told the BBC.

South Korea to boost Covid-19 vaccine air transport by easing dry ice rules

South Korea more than tripled the number of coronavirus vaccine containers aircraft can carry by easing limits on dry ice needed to keep them cold, the country's deputy minister for aviation told Reuters on Tuesday.

South Korea said on Tuesday it signed deals to provide coronavirus vaccines for 44 million people next year, including from AstraZeneca Plc, Pfizer Inc, and Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson's Janssen.

British grandma is 1st in world to get Pfizer vaccine outside trial

Margaret Keenan, a 90-year-old grandmother from Britain, has become the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine outside of a trial following its clinical approval.

An early riser, Keenan received the jab at her local hospital in Coventry, central England, on Tuesday morning at 0631 GMT.

Abu Dhabi seeking volunteers for Russian Covid-19 vaccine trial

Abu Dhabi is seeking volunteers to take part in Phase 3 clinical trials of Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, known as Sputnik V, in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Two doses of the vaccine will be given to up to 500 initial volunteers, according to the emirate's media office.

Russia on Saturday began distributing the vaccine to the most exposed groups in the country, the start of the first large-scale vaccination against the disease there.

Germany may need tougher Covid-19 curbs before Christmas, Minister says

Germany might tighten its restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Jens Spahn said, as the European Union’s most populous country struggles to bring down the number of new infections.

"A short and comprehensive approach to really make a difference is probably more successful. If we don’t get there within the next one or two weeks until Christmas, we have to discuss it," Spahn told public broadcaster Phoenix, according to comments distributed late on Monday.

42 new Covid-19 cases added in Puducherry, tally touches 37,311

Forty two more people tested positive for coronavirus in Puducherry on Tuesday taking the total caseload to 37,311, a top official of the Department of Health and Family Welfare said. However, no fresh fatality was reported from any of the four regions of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam.

Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release that the fatalities remained 615 as no deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

UK starts mass Covid-19 vaccination programme

Britain on Tuesday hailed a turning point in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, as it begins the biggest vaccination programme in the country's history with a new Covid-19 jab.

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PM says mobile technology to be used for Covid-19 vaccination drive

With the chances of a Covid-19 vaccine being available soon increasing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the mobile technology will be used for mass inoculation against the pandemic.

Speaking at the India Mobile Congress, he said mobile technology has enabled benefits worth billions of dollars to reach the deserving and also helped the poor and vulnerable during the pandemic.

"It is also with the help of mobile technology that we will embark on one of the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive," he said.

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20 new Covid-19 cases in Arunachal Pradesh

Twenty more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Arunachal Pradesh, pushing the tally in the northeastern state to 16,415, a senior health official said here on Tuesday.

Of the fresh cases, four were reported from East Siang and three from Changlang, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Dr Lobsang Jampa said.

Two cases each were also recorded in the Capital Complex region, West Kameng, Lepa Rada and Lower Subansiri and one each from Siang, Papumpare, Namsai, Lower Dibang Valley and Lohit, he said.

Second Covid-19 wave tests Turkey's commitment to austerity, higher rates

A surge in Covid-19 infections and the prospect of another economic downturn could sorely test Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's reluctant acceptance of much higher interest rates and the need for greater austerity.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 14,054

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 14,054 to 1,197,709, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by 423 to 19,342, the tally showed.

India records 26,567 new Covid-19 cases, 835 more deaths; infection tally crosses 97 lakh

The number of new Covid-19 cases reported in a span of 24 hours was recorded below 27,000 after nearly five months on Tuesday, taking India's infection tally to over 97 lakh, while total recoveries surged to 91.78 lakh, according to the Union health ministry.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 97,03,770 with 26,567 new infections being reported in a day, while the death toll rose to 1,40,958 with 385 new fatalities, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.

India reports 26,567 new cases, lowest daily rise in over 5 months; 385 deaths

Doctors on Covid-19 grind not paid for months in Karnataka

Senior resident doctors (SRs) in 69 government hospitals (district, taluk, superspeciality and community health centres) and medical colleges across Karnataka haven’t been paid salaries for the past four months of the pandemic, according to a list shared by the Karnataka Association for Resident Doctors (KARD).

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In US, vaccine operation soon to be put to the test

Trucks and cargo planes are at the ready to distribute millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine across the United States, a complex task led by a four-star general that will ultimately proceed more slowly than initially expected.

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WHO does not envisage Covid-19 vaccines being made mandatory

The World Health Organization does not foresee countries making it mandatory for citizens to take the new Covid-19 vaccines which have been developed, an official said on Monday.

"I don't think we envisage any countries creating a mandate for vaccinations, " Kate O’Brien, WHO’s director of immunisation vaccines and biologicals, told a news conference.

87-year-old Indian-origin man first to get Covid-19 vaccine in UK

An 87-year-old Indian-origin man from the north east of England will become one of the first people in the world to get a vaccine against Covid-19 when he receives his Pfizer/BioNTech jab at a hospital in Newcastle on Tuesday.

Hari Shukla from Tyne and Wear said he feels it is his duty to receive his first of the two-dose vaccine, a moment UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed as a “huge step forward” as Tuesday was dubbed “V-Day” or Vaccine Day in the UK.

Hong Kong to ban dining in restaurants from to curb coronavirus

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday the city will ban dining in restaurants after 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) to curb a rise in coronavirus cases in the densely packed financial hub.Lam, speaking at her weekly press briefing, said the government would also study additional relief measures for those affected by the latest restrictions.On Monday, Hong Kong recorded 78 new cases of coronavirus, taking its total to 6,976.

Mexico registers 6,399 new coronavirus cases, 357 more deaths

Mexico's Health Ministry on Monday reported 6,399 new cases of coronavirus infection and an additional 357 fatalities, bringing the country's totals to 1,182,249 cases and 110,074 deaths.

The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

South Korea reports 594 new coronavirus cases

South Korea reported 594 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said, another triple-digit daily increase that authorities say threatens to overload the medical system.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in has called for expanded coronavirus testing and more thorough tracing as the country struggles to control its latest and largest wave of infections.

China reports 12 new Covid-19 cases vs 15 a day earlier

China reported 12 new Covid-19 cases on Dec. 7, down from 15 cases a day earlier, the national health authority said on Tuesday.

The National Health Commission said in a statement 10 of the new cases were imported infections originating from overseas. The number of new asymptomatic cases, which China does not classify as confirmed cases, fell to five from six cases a day earlier.