A total of 16,488 novel coronavirus cases were reported in a day, while the death count rose to 1,56,938 with 113 new fatalities, showed the data updated at 8 am on Saturday.

The active case count has further increased to 1,59,590, which comprises 1.44 per cent of the total infections, the data stated.

The number of recoveries reached 1,07,63,451, which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.14 per cent and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42 per cent.

Meanwhile, with 2,84,297 vaccine doses administered to healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) on the 42nd day of nationwide COVID-19 vaccination, the total number of vaccination crossed 1.37 crores in the country, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on February 27.

According to the Union Health Ministry, 1,37,56,940 vaccine doses were given through 2,89,320 sessions.

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the move Sunday evening after an urgent meeting with other top lawmakers in the Cabinet.

She said they decided to take a cautious approach until they found out more about the outbreak, including whether the infections were of the more contagious variants.

The rest of New Zealand will also be placed under heightened restrictions although will not go into lockdown, Ardern said.

In a significant setback to New Zealand’s efforts to keep the coronavirus from spreading in the community, three people from one Auckland family have tested positive with the source of the infections unknown, health officials announced Sunday.

The news prompted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to cancel her plans and return to the capital Wellington for further briefings and decision-making.

New Zealand had successfully stamped out community spread of the virus, although new cases are regularly caught at the border among returning travellers, all of whom are required to spend two weeks in quarantine.

Officials said they’re keeping an open mind on how the Auckland mother, father and daughter caught the disease.

They said the mother works at an airline catering company, and officials are investigating whether there is a link to infected passengers.

“We are gathering all of the facts as quickly as we can, and the system that served us so well in the past is really gearing up to do so again,” said COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
He described the cases as new and active.

He said scientists are carrying out genome sequencing to see whether the cases are of the more transmissible variants, and also to see whether they match with any infected passengers.

New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, has reported a total of just over 2,300 cases and 25 deaths since the pandemic started.

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White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement that it is imperative that the report be independent and free from “alteration by the Chinese government”, echoing concerns raised by the administration of former President Donald Trump, who also moved to quit the WHO over the issue.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy fired back with a strongly-worded statement, saying the United States had damaged multilateral cooperation and the WHO in recent years, and should not be “pointing fingers” at China and other countries that supported the WHO during the Covid-19 pandemic.

China welcomed the U.S. decision to reengage with the WHO, but Washington should hold itself to the “highest standards” instead of taking aim at other countries, the spokesperson said.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Friday said all hypotheses were still open about the origins of Covid-19, after Washington said it wanted to review data from a WHO-led mission to China, where the virus first emerged.

A WHO-led mission, which spent four weeks in China probing the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak, said this week that it was not looking further into the question of whether the virus escaped from a lab, which is considered highly unlikely.

The Trump administration had said it suspected the virus may have escaped from a Chinese lab, which Beijing strongly denies.

Sullivan noted that U.S. President Joe Biden had quickly reversed the decision to disengage from the WHO, but said it was imperative to protect the organization’s credibility.

China refused to give raw data on early Covid-19 cases to the WHO-led team probing the origins of the pandemic, according to one of the team’s investigators, potentially complicating efforts to understand how the outbreak began.

The team had requested raw patient data on 174 cases that China had identified from the early phase of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan in December 2019, as well as other cases, but were only provided with a summary, Retuers reported.

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Besides the new cases, 15,858 recoveries were reported in the country in the same period, the Ministry said.

The total count includes 1,35,926 active cases and 1,05,89,230 recoveries.

The COVID-19 death toll has reached 1,55,447 with 87 people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours.

As many as 75,05,010 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country so far.

A total of 20,40,23,840 samples have been tested for the coronavirus as of February 10. Of these, 6,99,185 samples were tested on Wednesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed.

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At the same time, the government has said a total of 70,17,114 people have been vaccinated so far.

Along with the fresh coronavirus cases, states and union territories have also recorded 11,764 discharges, said the Union Health Ministry. The total number of recovered cases now stands at 1,05,73,372.

India now has 1,42,562 active Covid-19 cases. With 108 deaths, the country’s Covid-19 death toll has now gone up to 1,55,360.

ICMR has said a total of 20,40,23,840 samples have been tested for Covid-19 up to February 10. Of these, 6,99,185 samples were tested on Wednesday.

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AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is safe and effective and should be deployed widely, including in countries where the South African variant of the coronavirus may reduce its efficacy, a World Health Organization panel said on Wednesday.

The benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University outweigh any risks and the shot should recommend for use, including in people aged 65 and older, the WHO panel said.

Earlier South Africa stopped part of its roll out of the AstraZeneca vaccine after data small trial showed it did not protect against mild to moderate illness from the 501Y.V2 variant of the coronvirus now dominant in the country.

The WHO said it expected by mid-February to finalise its review of the shot for emergency use approval under COVAX agreement.

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Moreover, with 117 deaths related to the novel coronavirus infection, total fatality in the country has surged to 1,53,587.

India currently has 1,77,266 active cases and 1,03,45,985 people have been recovered and discharged so far.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 19,30,62,694 samples have been tested for Covid-19 detection up to January 25 with 7,25,577 of them being tested on Monday.

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Dubai’s Supreme Committee for Crisis and Disaster Management said on January 22 that attendance at social events, including weddings and private parties, will be limited. The new order comes after a high number of incidents of non-compliance with COVID-19 precautionary measures and increasing cases of infection.

Only first-degree relatives – parents, siblings and children – will be allowed at weddings, and not more than 10 people can attend the function.

The ruling will come into effect on January 27. It applies to events in hotels as well as home gatherings.

The UAE reported 3,552 cases of the disease on January 22 taking the total number of cases to 270,810 after 170,694 tests were carried out across the country. While 3,945 patients recovered from the virus, taking the total number of recoveries to 243,267, ten people died on the day and the death toll has reached 776 in all.

Non-essential surgery has been suspended until February 19 in Dubai. The decision was an extension of the one made in March 2020 in order to protect at-risk patients and release equipment such as ventilators.

Live entertainment in hotels and restaurants in Dubai will be halted because of the surge in cases and breaches found during inspections, Dubai Tourism has noted. According to Dubai Media Office, the decision was made to ensure “public health and safety” and “all permits issued will be on hold effective immediately”.

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As many as 152 coronavirus positive patients succumbed to the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll due to coronavirus in India to 1,53,184. India also registered 17,130 discharges on Friday.

With the fresh number of coronavirus cases and discharges, the active Covid-19 cases in the country now stand at 1,85,662. So far, 10,300,838 people have recovered from the disease taking the national recovery rate to 96.81 percent.

The Covid-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.44 percent.

According to the ICMR, a total of 19,09,85,119 samples have so far been tested for the viral disease in the country, including 8,37,095 on Friday.

Maharashtra has so far reported the highest number of 50,684 deaths caused by the viral disease in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,307), Karnataka (12,190), Delhi (10,789), West Bengal (10,097), Uttar Pradesh (8,605), Andhra Pradesh (7,146), Punjab (5,543) and Gujarat(4,374).

Since the vaccination drive was launched last Saturday, 13,90,592 have been vaccinated.

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The country’s death toll increased to 1,52,556 as 137 fatalities, the lowest in around eight months, were recorded in a span of 24 hours, the data showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,02,28,753 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.66 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44 percent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below three lakh.

There are 2,00,528 active COVID-19 cases in the country which comprise1.90 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed 20 lakh on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 18,78,02,827 samples have been tested up to January 18 with 7,09,791 samples being tested on January 19.

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Out of the total cases, active cases further dropped to 2.08 lakh while recoveries went up to 1,02 crore. With 145 deaths reported on January 17, the toll stands at over 1.52 lakh. Kerala recorded 5,005 new cases, more than 36 percent of all. Maharashtra reported 3,081 cases.

Now the total caseload in the country has mounted to 1,05,71,773. The active cases tally in India stands at 2,08,012 and total recovered/discharged cases at 1,02,11,342.

On January 17, active cases declined below 2 percent of the total cases reported in the country for the first time. Daily new COVID-19 cases have stayed below the 20,000 mark from the last 10 days.

Over 2.24 lakh priority group individuals have been vaccinated at the end of two days of India’s mega inoculation drive. Out of the beneficiaries, only 447 adverse events cases have been reported, 3 of them required hospitalization, with 2 being discharged already, the Union Ministry said.

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52,310 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was at 9.57 percent. So far 88,68,737 samples have been tested in the state.

4,408 recoveries were also recorded on this day. 4,506 people contracted the virus through contact.The source of 388 contact cases could not be traced. Sixty-eight of the coronavirus patients came from outside the state.

Twenty one deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours taking the COVID death toll to 3,463.

With this, the number of active cases in the state reached 68,991.

The state has reported 8,47,848 COVID-19 infections so far. Of this, 7,75,176 were
cured.

The district-wise statistics of positive cases: Ernakulam – 767, Kozhikode – 677, Malappuram – 479, Kollam – 439, Pathanamthitta – 427, Kottayam – 399, Alappuzha – 302, Thiruvananthapuram – 296, Thrissur – 262, Kannur – 239, Idukki – 237, Wayanad – 226, Palakkad – 176 and Kasaragod – 79.

None of the UK returnees tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. So far, 56 UK returnees have tested positive for coronavirus. Among them 9 have been identified as mutant virus strain.

The district-wise statistics of contact cases: Ernakulam – 723, Kozhikode – 659, Malappuram – 457,Kollam – 430, Pathanamthitta – 377, Kottayam – 369, Alappuzha – 287, Thiruvananthapuram – 189,Thrissur – 249, Kannur – 185, Idukki – 227, Wayanad – 209, Palakkad – 76 and Kasaragod – 69.

Forty three health workers also tested positive. Among them, 10 were from Wayanad, 8 from Kannur, 5 each Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, 4 each from Pathanamthitta and Thrissur, 3 from Kasaragod and 1 each from Palakkad, Kottayam, Malappuram and Idukki.

The district-wise statistics of recoveries: Thiruvananthapuram – 431, Kollam – 176, Pathanamthitta –437, Alappuzha – 512, Kottayam – 367, Idukki – 83, Ernakulam – 427, Thrissur – 433, Palakkad –221, Malappuram – 515, Kozhikode – 457, Wayanad – 179, Kannur – 118 and Kasaragod – 52.

There are 2,09,679 people under observation in the state. Out of this, 1,98,502 are under home/institutional quarantine and 11,177 people are in hospitals. 1,217 people were taken to hospitals on January 17.

Eight areas were declared hotspots on Sunday. Meanwhile, one area was removed from the hotspot list.With this, there are a total of 420 hotspots in the state.

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Matshidiso Moeti told reporters that a larger rollout of the millions of doses from COVAX is expected by June – the second major vaccine announcement this week for the African continent of 1.3 billion people as infections surge for a second time.

The African Union chair on Wednesday said 270 million doses have been secured from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca via the Serum Institute of India. Doses of the vaccines are expected to be allocated to countries based on population size and the severity of the outbreak, with health workers considered the highest priority after thousands have been infected.

The African continent is now recording about 30,000 new virus cases daily. More than 5,400 deaths were reported last week in Africa. The continent has more than 3.1 million confirmed virus cases as the second wave of infections is hitting hard.

The case fatality rate in Africa is now 2.4 percent, above the global rate of 2.2 percent. Some 20 African countries have case fatality rates above the global average, including Sudan at 6 percent, Egypt at 5.5 percent, Mali at 3.9 percent, Congo at 3.1 percent and South Africa at 2.8 percent.

South Africa,one of the hardest-hit countries in Africa is now dominated by the highly infectious variant of the virus. The country has more than 1.2 million cases including 35,000 deaths.

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She encouraged Indian to continue with steps to revive the economy in 2021 and to accelerate the country’s economic transformation.

The IMF Managing Director during a global media roundtable on Thursday predicted a less bad outlook for India in the upcoming World Economic Update due to the steps taken by the country, reported PTI.

“When I called on everybody to stay tuned for January 26, that applies very much to India. You would see a picture in our update that is less bad. Why? Because the country actually has taken very decisive action, very decisive steps to deal with the pandemic and to deal with the economic consequences of it,” Georgieva said.

The International Monetary Fund is scheduled to release its World Economic Update on January 26.

Talking about India, the IMF chief said it was a very dramatic lockdown for a country as big as India with a population of 1.2 billion and people living in close clusters.

“Then India moved to more targeted restrictions and lockdowns. What we see is that that transition, combined with policy support, seems to have worked well. Why? Because if you look at mobility indicators, we are almost where we were before COVID in India, meaning that economic activities have been revitalised quite significantly,” she said.

“What the government has done on the monetary policy and the fiscal policy side is commendable. It is actually slightly above the average for emerging markets. Emerging markets on average have provided six per cent of the GDP. In India, this is slightly above that. Good for India is that there is still space to do more.. If you can do more, please do,” Georgieva said.

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“You are by far the most excruciating, difficult, stubbornly obnoxious woman I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Washington’s character Malcolm declares in the trailer. “I fucking love you.” Later on, Malcolm tells her, “I love the way you see the world, Marie.”

As the two-and-a-half-minute trailer progresses, Marie comes to the conclusion, “You know what, Malcolm? I feel like once you know someone’s there for you and once you know they love you, you never actually think of them again. It’s not until you’re about to lose someone that you finally pay attention.”

The film follows a director’s relationship with his girlfriend was tested when they return home from a movie premiere and await responses from critics. According to the trailer, this is not a love story, this is a story of love.

Sam Levinson who directed the critically acclaimed series Euphoria helmed the project as writer and director.

Netflix acquired the film, which was shot on 35 mm with a small crew amid the COVID-19 pandemic, last September for $30 million following a bidding war between several distributors. The streamer plans to launch an Oscar campaign for the project.

Malcolm & Marie will be available on Netflix on Feb. 5. View the trailer below.

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On January 8, Madhya Pradesh reported its first case of the new mutated strain from the UK. The patient, a 39-year-old man, had returned to Indore from the UK last month and has tested positive for the new coronavirus strain. Officials say he is asymptomatic.

A day earlier, three more people were found positive with the new UK-variant of Covid-19 in Maharashtra, taking the state’s tally to 11.

Officials said all 11 cases were asymptomatic.

As of January 6, the number of people who had tested positive for the new UK variant was 73.

The Union health ministry had said these cases included the 58 which were announced by the ministry till Tuesday.

“The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus first reported in the UK now stands at 73,” the ministry had said.

The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by several countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

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With 214 fresh deaths, India’s coronavirus death toll now stands at 1,49,649.

Among 1.03 crore total cases, there are 2,43,953 active cases while 99,46,867 have recovered. In the past 24 hours, India saw 19,557 recoveries, as per the Union Health Ministry.

Maharashtra reported 3,282 new cases and 35 deaths in the last 24 hours. There are now 53,137 active cases in the state, the health department informed. So far, 18,36,999 people have recovered, while the death toll stands at 49,666.

Kerala reported 4,600 new cases and 4,668 recoveries on Sunday. With this, the total number of active cases in the state now stands at 65,278.

As many as 424 new coronavirus cases and 708 recoveries were reported in the national capital on Sunday, as per the Delhi Health Department. The total number of positive cases now stands at 6,26,872, while the death toll stands at 10,585, including 14 on Sunday. There are currently 5,044 active cases in the national capital.

With 7,35,978 samples tested for the coronavirus on Sunday, the total number of samples tested so far stands at 17,56,35,761, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed.

On January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted permission for restricted use in an emergency situation to vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) director Dr Randeep Guleria clarified that approval of COVAXIN, Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine is for an emergency situation and not emergency use authorisation which is given to Serum Institute of India’s COVISHIELD.

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This year Indians will face more subdued New Year’s eve celebrations as several states are announcing restrictions and night curfews, including prohibiting gathering of more than five people on the road and on events, shows and programmes.

The Indian government has issued SOPs to keep large gatherings to a minimum as the highly infectious coronavirus strain from United Kingdom has surfaced in the country.

Here’s a state-by-state guide to what you can and can’t do while celebrating New Year’s eve.

Delhi

In Delhi, night curfew has been declared from 11 pm to 6 am. “No New Year celebratory events, congregations and gatherings at public places shall be permitted from 11 pm of December 31 to 6 am of January 1 and 11 pm of January 1 and 6 am of January 2,” the Delhi Disaster Management Authority has declared.

Traffic movement will not be restricted. However no vehicle, both private or public transport, shall be allowed to proceed towards Connaught Place post 8 pm till celebrations are over.
To decrease overcrowding on New Year’s Eve Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) announced that exit from Rajiv Chowk metro station will not be allowed after 9 pm onwards.

Maharashtra(Mumbai)

Night curfew from 11pm to 6am has been announced in Mumbai also. Large gatherings have been banned, but there will be no restriction on visiting friends, relatives and public places in groups of four persons. The use of face masks and social distancing will remain mandatory.
The Mumbai Police also warned that drones will be used to keep watch.

Karnataka

In Bengaluru, prohibitory orders banning large gatherings will be imposed from noon today, the city police commissioner has said.

Section 144 imposed from 6 pm in Mangaluru. The government, through guidelines and orders, has prohibited parties, and special events at clubs, pubs, restaurants, and other places that attract people in large numbers without social distancing.

Tamil Nadu

Chennai , too, has barred large gatherings, especially on beaches and roads. The hugely popular Marina beach, Elliot’s beach and other beaches have been shut. Hotels and bars will have to shut by 10 pm. Hotels have been asked to verify credentials of visitors.
However Puducherry permitted celebration on beaches with regular rules. There are no strict restrictions.

West Bengal

Bengal has called for peaceful, disciplined celebrations, saying extremes like night curfews “not perceived to be required”. “No need for extreme steps but urge caution over new year celebrations… Best to maintain a careful middle path,” the state’s Chief Secretary has said.

Chandigarh

In Chandigarh too, there will be no special restrictions. “Review meeting was held; No night curfew in Chandigarh on the New Year Eve as there is a decline in Covid positive cases. Chandigarh police will ensure the existing Covid protocols are followed,” Lieutenant Governor VP Badnore has tweeted.

Punjab

The Amarinder Singh government has decided to lift it from January 1, and advised the public to follow Covid appropriate behaviour. Night curfew is in place today from 10 pm to 5 am in all cities and towns and hotels, restaurants, marriage palaces will be closed by 9.30 pm.The ceiling of 100 people and 250 people in all the indoor and outdoor social gatherings in the state will be applicable only till tonight.

Kerala
Kerala government sets 10pm deadline for New Year’s Eve celebrations . The fresh directive also said that no public gatherings will be allowed for the celebrations.
The government said “lawful action” will be taken under various provisions of law against people who fail to adhere to the rules. In its order, the government has asked district collectors and district police chiefs to ensure compliance.

Gujarat
The night curfew will be strictly enforced after 9 pm today in Ahmeddabad city.

Odisha

Odisah government has totally prohibited zero night and New Years celebrations across the state. However cinema halls, theatres and other entertainment facilities will be opened as part of Unlock 8 from January 1, 2021.

Haryana

In Gurgaon, New Year celebrations will happen as usual with beefing up the security. Around 4,000 police personnel have been deployed in Gurugram on the New Year’s Eve, with special traffic arrangements made to regulate movement of revellers.

Telengana

Liquor shop will remain open till midnight in Telengana and New Year celebrations and parties are allowed till 1 am . Permission has been given to the licence holders of bars, event organisers and In-House licences of Tourism Development Corporation to serve liquor up to 1 am, on the intervening night of December 31 and January 1, it said.

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With 279 fresh deaths, the coronavirus toll has mounted to 1,47,901.
Meanwhile, 21,131 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the recovered cases tally to 97,82,669. Also, there are 2,77,301 active Covid cases currently in the country.

According to the data provided by the health ministry, 95.83 cases have been cured, while 2.72 per cent of the total positive cases constitutes the total active cases.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the seventh consecutive day. The national recovery rate now stands at 95.83 percent, while the COVID-10 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 percent.

COVID-19 Testing Update. For more details visit: https://t.co/dI1pqvXAsZ @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes #ICMRFIGHTSCOVID19 #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #CoronaUpdatesInIndia #COVID19 #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/vrgy6bJmJc

— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) December 28, 2020

The last 24 hours saw the lowest testing in at least 2 months which show a sharp fall in total testing. According to Indian Council of Medical Research the total sample tested upto December 27 is 16,88,18,054. Samples tested on December 27 is 7,15,397.

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He said he believes trials will show his firm has achieved a vaccine efficacy similar to Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

Earlier, several reports suggested that AstraZeneca vaccine may not be as good as the one made by Pfizer, already being distributed in the UK and other countries. Partial results suggest that the AstraZeneca shot is about 70 percent effective for preventing illness from coronavirus infection, compares to the 95% efficacy reported by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

“We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else,” the chief executive said, while saying only that data would be published at “some point”.

The United Kingdom government announced on December 23 that the developers of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had submitted their data to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Approval is expected to be granted to roll out the jab on January 4.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was the first coronavirus shot to be authorised for use by the UK’s independent medicines regulator and has been given to 600,000 of the country’s most vulnerable people since last month.

Earlier trials had shown different outcomes in the AstraZeneca shot’s efficacy. The vaccine initially showed an average 70 per cent effectiveness but that level jumped to 90 per cent depending on the dosage.

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The passenger has been transferred to the Kings Institute Hospital in Chennai and is currently under quarantine.

So far 14 passengers have been identified who returned from UK and are being monitored.

No other details about the infected person was immediately available.

Meanwhile, amid the discovery of a new and more infectious coronavirus strain in the UK , five people out of 266 passengers and crew members of a flight have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, which arrived at the Delhi airport from London on December 22.

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