Coronavirus news highlights: Maharashtra reports 3,218 new Covid-19 cases, 51 fatalities

India's Covid-19 tally reaches 1,03,19,185 and death toll reaches 1,49,395. The CDSCO recommended emergency use authorization of the AstraZeneca-Oxford and Bharat Biotech vaccines, clearing the decks for an unprecedented campaign aimed at vaccinating 30 crore people in the next few months. A vaccination protocol has been evolved and the plan is to cover 300 million people in the first phase. Stay tuned to DH for the latest updates.

Dear readers, thank you for following the live coverage of the novel coronavirus here.

Click here for more latest updates.

India rehearses for massive coronavirus vaccination drive; Vardhan assures people on safety of vaccine

Maharashtra, Kerala and Gujarat conducted the mock drill in four districts each, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in five districts each while Rajasthan carried out the dry-run in seven districts.

Read more

Karnataka reported 755 new Covid-19 cases, 976 discharges and 3 deaths today

Total cases: 9,21,128

Total discharges: 8,98,176

Death toll: 12,099

Chennai luxury hotel turns Covid-19 hotspot; 85 test positive

ITC Grand Chola, in a release, said all events at the property have been conducted in adherence to the norms mandated by the authorities.

Read more

Britain will allow mixing of Covid-19 vaccines on rare occasions

In a departure from other strategies globally, the government said people could be given a mix-and-match of two Covid-19 shots, for example if the same vaccine dose was out of stock, according to guidelines published on New Year's Eve.

Read more

CDSCO panel approves Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for emergency use

The second vaccine cleared by the subject expert committee of the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation is Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology, Pune, which isolated the vaccine strain.

Read more

A mock drill on Covid vaccine administration was held in all states & UTs at 286 session sites spread across 125 districts. Around 1,14,100 vaccinators were trained. Ove 75 lakhs beneficiaries have been registered on Co-WIN software till date: Centre

A health official (L) prepares to administer a vaccine during adryrunor a mock drill for Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine delivery at a primary health centre in Kolkata on January 2, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

Maharashtra reports 3,218 new Covid-19 cases which push tally to 19,38,854; death toll goes up to 49,631 with 51 fatalities: health official

Credit:People are seen at a crowded market amidst the spread of thecoronavirusdisease inMumbai. | Reuters File Photo

No coronavirus pandemic in India; BJP trying to create fear in people's minds: Akhilesh Yadav

''Where is the pandemic?" he asked reporters in Lucknow, adding: "I am sitting before you (reporters) without wearing a mask."

Read more.

Vistors throng as they visit the Taj Mahal amid the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic in Agra on January 2, 2021. | AFP

Tamil Nadu reported 910 new Covid-19 cases, 1,007 discharges, and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours: State Health Department

Total cases: 8,19,845

Total discharges: 7,99,427

Death toll: 12,146

Active cases: 8,272

Covid-19 vaccination dry run held in 5 districts of Karnataka

It was held at Kalaburagi, Shivamogga, Mysuru, Belagavi, and Bengaluru districts in which 25 beneficiaries, including designated health staff at each of the identified Primary Health Centres, taluk and district hospitals, participated.

Read more

Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant among 5 players isolated as boards investigate protocol breach

A video posted on social media showed Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Navdeep Saini and Prithvi Shaw eating together on New Year's Day.

Read more

India successfully cultures the new viral strain on the horizon (UK-variant of SARS-CoV-2), says ICMR

Five Indian players — Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw & Navdeep Saini placed in isolation after video emerged on social media of group appearing to eat at an indoor venue in Melbourne: Cricket Australia

Potential breach of Covid-19protocols being investigated, it added.

ANI

Four passengers who returned from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new strain of Coronavirus in Gujarat: Jayanti Ravi, State Principal Secretary (Health) | ANI

Delhi records 494 fresh COVID-19 cases, lowest in over seven months; death toll 10,571 with 14 new fatalities: Authorities

Scientists outline steps for safely receiving Covid-19 vaccine

Following accounts of potential allergies to the Covid-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, scientists have outlined steps on safely receiving the second dose of the therapeutic in individuals who develop a reaction to their first dose.

Read more here

India holds Covid-19 vaccine drills ahead of mass inoculation drive

India on Saturday staged nationwide drills to start one of the world's biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as the drug regulator prepared to approve the first vaccine.

A government panel on Friday recommended emergency use of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot and the first injections could be given in the coming week after the Drugs Control Authority of India gives final approval.

Read more here

Delhi govt has so far made preparations to vaccinate 1 lakh people in a day, says Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

All UK passengers to India to be tested for Covid-19 on arrival between January 8-30

All passengers coming from the UK between January 8 and January 30 would be subjected to self-paid Covid-19 tests on arrival, the health ministry said in a standard operating procedure (SOP) issued on Saturday.

Moreover, each passenger arriving from the UK would have to bring his or her Covid-19 negative report from a test done 72 hours prior to the journey, the SOP stated.

Read more here

Dry run completed successfully at three PHCs in Bengaluru

The Covid-19 vaccination dry run that was underway in three primary health centres in Bengaluru from 9 am to 11 am came to a successful end with 25 beneficiaries participating in the mock drill at each PHC.

At Kamakshipalya PHC in the west zone of BBMP, the registration room brimmed with the mock drill beneficiaries includingthe ASHA workers and Anganwadi workers of the area, as soon as they were intimated of the time and location.

Read more here

Covid-19 vaccine will be free across the country: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

Dry run for Covid-19 vaccination begins in Delhi

A dry run for Covid-19 vaccination began in the national capital on Saturday at three sites selected for the purpose, officials said.The Centre had on Thursday stated that the activity was set to be conducted by all state and union territory administrations on January 2 to test the linkages between planning and implementation, and identify challenges.

Read more here

Covid-19 vaccine dry run set at the BBMP Primary Health Centre Kamakshipalya in Bengaluru. Credit: DH/BK Janardhan.

India reports 19,078 new Covid-19 cases, 22,926 recoveries, and 224 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.

Covid-19 vaccine dry run to be held in Mysuru

Health Department officials will conduct a Covid-19 vaccine dry run in selectplaces in the Mysurudistricton Saturday.

Read more here

Britain opts for mix-and-match Covid-19 vaccinations, confounding experts

Amid a sputtering vaccine rollout and fears of a new and potentially more transmissible variant of the coronavirus, Britain has quietly updated its vaccination playbook to allow for a mix-and-match vaccine regimen. If a second dose of the vaccine a patient originally received isn’t available, or if the manufacturer of the first shot isn’t known, another vaccine may be substituted, health officials said.

Read more here

All states, UTs to begin dry run of Covid-19 vaccine today

As an Indian regulatory expert panel on Friday recommended emergency use authorisation of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, all the states are set to undertake a dry run on January 2 so that they can sort out possible logistical challenges before the vaccine is rolled out commercially.

Read more here

Schools, colleges in Karnataka reopen to good attendance

Schools and colleges across Karnataka witnessed an overwhelming turnout on Friday as they reopened after a gap of nearly 10 months owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Read more here

Covid-19 vaccine closer, but don’t lower guard

The recent discovery of a mutation of the coronavirus, called N501Y, first in the UK and later in some other countries, has caused renewed concern over the Covid-19 pandemic at a time when its spread was considered to be slowing down in some parts of the world, including in India, and the vaccination process has started in a few countries.

Read more here

Expert panel approves Serum Institute's Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use

An Indian regulatory expert panel on Friday recommended emergency use authorization of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine against Covid-19 – manufactured by Serum Institute in India - clearing the decks for an unprecedented campaign aimed at vaccinating 30 crore people in the next few months.

Read more here