Coronavirus news highlights: Karnataka reports 877 new Covid-19 cases, 6 deaths

India reported 20,036 new Covid-19 cases, 23,181 recoveries, and 256 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry on Friday. The World Health Organization on Thursday granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve its import and distribution. India is likely to have a Covid-19 vaccine in the New Year, Drug Controller General of India V G Somani hinted on Thursday. Speaking at a webinar, Somani said the most important thing is that the industry and research organisations have stood the test of time.

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Chhattisgarh's Covid-19 tally rises by 932, toll by 4; 850 recover

Chhattisgarh's Covid-19 tally mounted to 2,80,507 on Friday after 932 people tested positive for the infection, while four fatalities took the toll to 3,375, a health official said.

The number of recoveries reached 2,65,788 as 92 people were discharged from hospitals and 758 completed their home isolation during the day, leaving the state with 11,344 active cases, he said.

Karnataka reports 877 new Covid-19 cases, 6 deaths

Karnataka on Friday reported 877 new cases of Covid-19 and six related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 9,20,373 and the death toll to 12,096. A total of over 1,41,96,065 samples have been tested so far, out of which 1,17,907 were tested today alone, and 8,951 among them were rapid antigen tests.

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631 new coronavirus cases in Mumbai, nine deaths

Mumbai reported 631 new Covid-19 cases and nine deaths on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

With this the tally of Covid-19 cases in the city rose to 2,94,067 and death toll reached 11,125.

As many as 14,129 samples were tested for Covid-19 during the day, taking the number of tests carried out so far to 23,70,594.

35 new Covid-19 cases in Chandigarh

Thirty-five more people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Chandigarh, bringing the infection tally to 19,799 on Friday, according to a medical bulletin.

One more death pushed the toll from the pandemic to 318 in the city, the bulletin said.

Chandigarh has 372 active Covid-19 cases.

734 new coronavirus cases in Gujarat, three deaths

Gujarat recorded 734 new coronavirus cases and only three deaths in the last 24 hours, the state health department said on Friday evening.

The state's caseload thus went up to 2,45,772 while the death toll stands at 4,309, it said.

On the other hand, 907 Covid-19 patients recovered and were given discharge during this period.

With 53,520 new tests, the number of tests conducted in the state has gone up to 97,06,300.

Haryana reports six Covid-19 deaths, 286 new cases

Haryana reported six fatalities linked to the coronavirus on Friday, briging the death toll to 2,911 even as 286 fresh cases pushed the state's infection tally to 2,62,611, according to a health department bulletin.

According to the state health department's daily bulletin, two new deaths were reported from Rewari and one each from Karnal, Panchkula, Jhajjar and Fatehabad districts.

Maharashtra reports 3,524 new Covid-19 cases, 59 deaths

Maharashtra's Covid-19 case tally rose to 19,35,636 with 3,524 new cases being reported on Friday, the state health department said.

As many as 59 patients died during the day, taking the death toll of the pandemic in the state to 49,580.

But recoveries outnumbered new infections as 4,279 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day.

627 passengers who arrived from abroad quarantined in Mumbai

Of 1,435 passengers who arrived at the Mumbai international airport from Europe, Middle East and South Africa on Friday, 627 were quarantined in the city, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said.

A total of 1,435 travelers from these three regions landed at the Mumbai airport by 18 flights during the day, he said.

As many as 627 of them were quarantined as per the BMC's protocol for dealing with those who have arrived from Europe, Middle East and South Africa, whie 93 were exempted, the official said.

4 deaths, 609 fresh coronavirus cases in Rajasthan

Four more people died from coronavirus in Rajasthan on Friday as 609 fresh cases surfaced, taking the number of infections to 3,08,852, according to an official report.

So far, 2,700 people have died from the infection in the state.

On Friday, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sikar and Tonk reported one death each while the maximum 91 fresh infections were reported from Jaipur, the report said. Jodhpur recorded 85 cases.

Germany's BioNTech racing to ramp up Covid-19 vaccine production

BioNTech is working flat out with partner Pfizer to boost production of their COVID-19 vaccine, its founders said, warning there would be gaps in supply until other vaccines were rolled out.

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Sixty-nine new coronavirus cases reported in Goa

Goa's coronavirus caseload went up to 51,135 with 69 new patients coming to light on Friday, a health department official said.

The death toll, however, remained at739 as no new fatality was reported during the day.

The number of recovered persons in the state rose to 49,466 with 78 patients getting discharged on Friday.

75 UK returnees to be traced in Karnataka: K Sudhakar

Efforts are on to trace 75 people who have travelled to Karnataka from the UK with authorities hopeful of locating them soon, state Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Friday.

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SEC in favour of emergency approval for SII's Covishield vaccine

Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has recommended that India's DCGI authorise emergency use of Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covishield vaccine, accoridng to CNBC-TV18.

How scientists studied coughs to model Covid-19 spread

But once it became clear that the pandemic was mainly spreading through cough and sneeze aerosols from infected individuals, the duo began applying their knowledge to understand the evaporation of respiratory droplets from surfaces and the spread of cough clouds.

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Jharkhand reports 240 new Covid-19 cases, 3 fresh fatalities

Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally rose to 1,15,113 on Friday as 240 more people tested positive for the infection, while three fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 1,030, a health official said.

Ranchi district reported the highest number of new cases at 110, followed by East Singhbhum (31) and Dhanbad (26), he said.

The fresh fatalities were reported in Ranchi, East Singhbhum and Dhanbad districts, the official said.

Schools, colleges in Karnataka reopen after 8 months amid Covid-19 pandemic

After a gap of over nine months, schools and pre-university colleges in Karnataka reopened for students on Friday with strict Covid-19 safety norms.

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Primary contact of UK returnee in Karnataka tests positive for new Covid strain

Karnataka reports the first primary contact of a UK returnee to be infected with the new UK virus strain. The mother of a doctor who returned from UK got infected. They're two among the three new cases in the state revealed today by the union health ministry.

Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar told DH, "Three new cases were discovered yesterday. One doctor who came back from the UK and his mother, and another returnee. The mother is the first primary contact to become positive with the UK strain in Karnataka."

"In all, the patients comprise two men and one woman. They're under treatment in Victoria Hospital, in Bengaluru, and are mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic," he said.

Covid-19 active caseload drops to 2.54 lakh, lowest after 179 days

India's Covid-19 active caseload continues to exhibit a sustained downward slide and has significantly dropped to 2.54 lakh, the lowest after 179 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.

The total active cases were 2,53,287 on July 6. India's present active caseload consists of just 2.47 per cent of India's total cases.

The daily new cases in India in the recent days have been around 20,000. The new cases in a span of 24 hours were 20,035 whereas 23,181 recoveries were registered during the same period.

Students attend offline classes in Dakshina Kannada district

The teaching and non-teaching staff checked the students' temperatures and offered hand sanitisers.The school premises, toilets were cleaned and sanitised by the management. Social distancing was maintained inside the classrooms.

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BJP president JP Nadda recovers from coronavirus

Dry run in Delhi for Covid-19 vaccine will be held at Daryaganj, GTB Hospital and one private hospital, says Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

US Covid-19 relief offers the art ecosystem a second shot at life

The Stone Pony in New Jersey's Asbury Park has hosted dozens of musicians on their ascent to stardom -- including none other than Bruce Springsteen -- but for months it's sat dark due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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India’s total active caseload sees sustained downward slope. It has dropped to 2.54 lakh today, lowest after 179 days. India’s present active caseload consists of 2.47% of total positive cases. Less than 300 daily deaths recorded continuously since last 7 days: Govt of India.

Israel's coronavirus surveillance tool tests its democratic norms

In the early days of the pandemic, a panicked Israel began using a mass surveillance tool on its civilians, tracking people's cellphones in hopes of stopping the spread of the coronavirus.

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Maharashtra government to conduct Covid-19 vaccine dry run in four districts, including worst-affected Pune

“The vaccination drive dry runs would be conducted in Pune, Nagpur, Jalna and Nandurbar,” Public Health and Family Welfare Minister Rajesh Tope said.

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Subdued Brazil New Year celebrations met with silence in Covid-19 ward

Brazilians saw in 2021 with fireworks under unusual social distancing measures, while in a hospital intensive care ward outside Sao Paulo, doctors tending Covid-19 patients held one minute of silence for the passing of a deadly year.

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Schools, colleges reopen in Karnataka, Assam; Kerala unlocks educational institutes partially.

Florida reports evidence of new coronavirus strain

Florida health authorities late Thursday reported finding evidence of the latest US case of the new and apparently more contagious coronavirus strain first seen in England, saying it was detected in a man with no recent travel history.

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Expert panel to meet today for Covid-19 vaccine approval

Indian drug regulators will meet on Jan 1 and emergency use authorisation for a Covid-19 vaccine may be granted if the expert panel is satisfied with the data submitted by pharmaceutical companies on the vaccine trials.

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A total of 17,31,11,694 samples tested for Covid-19 up to December 31. Of these, 10,62,420 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research.

Daily coronavirus cases top 1,000 as South Korea marks a subdued New Year

South Korea reported 1,029 new coronavirus cases on Friday amid subdued New Year's celebrations.The tally was up from 967 the day before, and brought total cases to 61,769, with 917 deaths, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

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United States' Covid-19 caseload reaches 20-million mark

The United States on Thursday recorded its 20 millionth case since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, surpassing a grim milestone just as the prospects for getting the virus under control quickly in the new year appeared to dim.

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India reports 20,036 new Covid-19 cases, 23,181 recoveries, and 256 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry.

Covid-19 vaccines take a while to kick in. Experts say that means the body is doing its job.

A flurry of headlines this week flooded social media, documenting a seemingly concerning case of Covid-19 in a San Diego nurse who fell ill about a week after receiving his first injection of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine.

But experts said the sickness is nothing unexpected: The protective effects of vaccines are known to take at least a couple of weeks to kick in. And getting sick before completing a two-dose vaccine regimen, they said, should not undermine the potency of Pfizer’s product.

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Pubs, restaurants fume over New Year’s Eve curfew in Bengaluru

The government’s belated and exhaustive New Year’s Eve curfew, especially in the Central Business District (CBD), is exacting a heavy financial blow from restaurants, pubs and other places of recreation.

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Drugmakers to hike prices in 2021 as pandemic, political pressure put revenues at risk

Drugmakersincluding Pfizer Inc, Sanofi SA, and GlaxoSmithKline Plc plan to raise USprices on more than 300 drugs in the United States on Jan. 1, according todrugmakersand data analyzed by healthcare research firm 3 Axis Advisors.

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WHO grants 'emergency validation' to Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine

The World Health Organization on Thursday granted emergency validation to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for countries worldwide to quickly approve its import and distribution.

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Here’s why distribution of vaccine is taking longer than expected

In Florida, less than one-quarter of delivered coronavirus vaccines have been used, even as older people sat in lawn chairs all night waiting for their shots. In Puerto Rico, last week’s vaccine shipments did not arrive until the workers who would have administered them had left for the Christmas holiday. In California, doctors are worried about whether there will be enough hospital staff members to both administer vaccines and tend to the swelling number of Covid -19 patients.

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Probably we will have a very happy New Year: DCGI on Covid-19 vaccine

India is likely to have a Covid-19 vaccine in the New Year, Drug Controller General of India V G Somani hinted on Thursday. Speaking at a webinar, Somani said the most important thing is that the industry and research organisations have stood the test of time.

Read more here