Coronavirus: Delhi records lowest daily cases in over 3 months, Tamil Nadu’s tally crosses 8 lakh

10.19 pm: Madhya Pradesh registers 1,058 new cases and eight more deaths.

10.13 pm: Maharashtra registers 2,949 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the state’s tally of infections to 18,83,365, reports ANI. The toll rises to 48,269, after 60 more people succumbed to the disease in 24 hours.

10.08 pm: In Himachal Pradesh, the total number of coronavirus cases rises to 6,948, after 386 new infections were reported on Monday, reports ANI. The toll stands at 813.

10.06 pm: Haryana records 993 new Covid-19 cases and 16 deaths on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 2,53,385, and the toll to 2,733, reports ANI.

10.05 pm: Punjab registers 464 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 1,60,659, reports ANI. The toll from the disease stands at 5,098.

10.02 pm: Russian coronavirus vaccine developers published fresh results from their trial of the Sputnik V vaccine on Monday based on new data, saying that the shot had again been found to be 91.4% effective against Covid-19.

The new results are based on data from 22,714 participants in the trial, and were published after 78 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported among the group, researchers at the Gamaleya Institute said in a statement.

9.56 pm: The Ahmedabad administration of Gujarat cancels all public New Year Eve celebrations in the city, in view of the night curfew imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19, reports PTI.

8.05: United States President Donald Trump says that the first coronavirus vaccine has been administered in the country. On December 11, the Food and Drug Adminstration had granted emergency use authorisation to Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

7.45 pm: Delhi records 1,376 new coronavirus cases, the lowest in over three-and-a-half months, according to PTI. Meanwhile, the toll rises to 10,074 with 60 more fatalities. The positivity rate dropped to 2.15% from 2.74% on Sunday, according to authorities.

This is the lowest daily infection count reported since August 31, when 1,358 cases were recorded.

7.40 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 1,141 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s tally of positive infections to 8,00,029, according to ANI. With 14 more deaths, the toll stands at 11,909.

7.20 pm: The West Bengal government says daily Delhi-Kolkata direct flights will now be allowed with immediate effect, reports ANI. Earlier, flights between the two cities were operations only three days a week.

7.04 pm: In Uttarakhand, cases rise to 83,006, after 577 new Covid-19 infections were reported on Monday, reports ANI. The number of deaths climb to 1,361, after six more people succumbed to the disease.

7.03 pm: Kerala reports 2,707 new coronavirus cases on Monday, pushing the state’s overall count of cases to 57,640, reports ANI.

7pm: Karnataka records 830 new Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 9,02,240, and the toll to 11,954, reports ANI.

6.56 pm: Jammu and Kashmir records 246 new coronavirus cases, taking the count of infections in the Union Territory to 1,16,254, reports ANI. The toll stands at 1,802.

6.55 pm: Rajasthan’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 2,92,539, after 1,250 new infections were reported on Monday, reports ANI. The toll rises by 13 to 2,555.

6.48 pm: The Himachal Pradesh government extends the night curfew imposed in four districts of the state till January 5, 2021, reports ANI.

5.23 pm: Antiviral Remdesivir may be a highly effective drug against the coronavirus, according to a new single-patient study published in the journal, Nature Communications, reports PTI. The research contradicts the findings of another study, which found the drug had no impact on death rates caused by Covid-19.

The researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK who gave the drug to a patient with Covid-19 and a rare immune disorder, observed a dramatic improvement in his symptoms and the disappearance of the virus.

5.22 pm: Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar records one more fatality from Covid-19, pushing the district’s toll to 86 on Monday, the number of coronavirus infections rises to 24,180 with 89 new cases, reports PTI.

5.18 pm: Andhra Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 8,75,836, after 305 new infections were reported on Monday. The toll rises by two to 7,059.

5.16 pm: Assam Health Minister Himanta Sarma says the coronavirus situation in the state is now “comfortable”, reports ANI. “People are attending functions and big rallies but the situation is not worsening,” he says. “If a second wave comes, it is a diffrent thing, but as of now we are comfortable.”

5.13 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 1,229 new Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths on Monday, taking the state’s overall count of infections to 5,66,728, and the toll to 8,063, reports PTI.

5.10 pm: A smart ring that generates continuous temperature data may flag Covid-19 in its very early stages, even in cases when the coronavirus infection is not suspected, says a study published in the journal, Scientific Reports, reports PTI. The device can be a better illness indicator than a thermometer, and may lead to earlier isolation and testing, curbing the spread of Covid-19, among other diseases, the research says.

3.28 pm: Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announces that the country has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine and that authorities expect delivery of the first shots by the end of December, reports Reuters.

“My colleagues and I, including the older ones, will be getting ourselves vaccinated early,” says Lee in a national broadcast. “This is to show you, especially seniors like me, that we believe the vaccines are safe.”

3.25 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan dismisses Opposition allegations of poll code violations after he promised that the coronavirus vaccine will be made free of all costs in the state, reports PTI.

“We have been providing free treatment for Covid-19 and the preventive medicine is part of that treatment,” Vijayan tells reporters. “We made it clear that it will be provided free of cost. There is no violation of any model code of conduct.”

2.46 pm: Congress leader Anand Sharma says the economy contracted because of the coronavirus but an increase in India’s capacity in terms of manufacturing personal protective equipment kits, ventilators and other equipment is a credit to the people, the society, and the government, reports ANI. “We got together as a nation to respond,” Sharma says at the 93rd Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry annual convention.

1.58 pm: Odisha on Monday registers 332 new coronavirus cases, which take its tally to 3,24,089, PTI reports. The state’s toll rises by four to 1,811.

1.55 pm: South Korea orders schools shut as it battles its worst outbreak of the coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, Reuters reports. The country registers 718 new coronavirus cases on Monday.

1.52 pm: The health ministry says India’s active cases drop to 3.52 lakh, the lowest in 149 days. “The share of active cases in the total positive Cases has further shrunk to 3.57%,” the government adds.

12.31 pm: Indian Institute of Technology in Madras has shut down its departments, centres, and the library, citing an increase in coronavirus cases in hostels, an email to students accessed by NDTV shows. Sixty-six students have reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 and 700 more are being tested for the virus.

11.01 am: The coronavirus tally in Jharkhand rises to 1,11,510 after 144 more people test positive in the state, NDTV reports. The toll climbs to 999 with four fresh fatalities. There are 1,571 active cases, while 1,08,940 have recovered so far.

10.58 am: Andaman and Nicobar Islands reports 13 more coronavirus cases, pushing the tally in the Union Territory to 4,818, reports NDTV. There are 84 active cases, 61 deaths and 4,673 recoveries in the archipelago.

10.54 am: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has arrived in the country. “This is good news,” he tweets. “But our fight against Covid-19 is not over. Now more than ever, let’s keep up our vigilance. Keep wearing your masks, washing your hands, avoiding gatherings, and using CovidAlert.”

10.50 am: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi tests positive for the coronavirus. In a tweet, Manjhi appeals to all those who have come in contact with him in the last seven days to get tested for the infection.

10.44 am: Telangana reports 384 new coronavirus cases, three deaths and 631 discharges on Sunday, reports ANI. The overall tally climbs to 2,78,108, including 7,380 active infections, 2,69,232 recoveries and 1,496 fatalities.

10.38 am: Uttarakhand Health Secretary Amit Negi says the the preparation for Covid-19 vaccination programme was underway on a war footing, ANI reports. He adds that the inoculation process will start as soon as the state receives the vaccines.

9.30 am: India records 27,071 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Monday. The country has reported less than 40,000 cases for 15 days now. This is also the third time in December that the daily cases tally was below 30,000.

The overall tally is now 98,84,100, while the toll has increased by 336 to 1,43,355. The number of active cases, meanwhile, is 3,52,586, while as many as 93,88,159 people have recovered.

9.20 am: India has tested over 15.45 crore samples for the coronavirus so far, an update from the Indian Council of Medical Research shows. More than 8 lakh samples were tested on Sunday alone.

9.10 am: The United States expects to have vaccinated 100 million, or 10 crore, people by the end of March, Reuters reports, citing the the Chief Adviser for the US COVID-19 vaccine program Dr Moncef Slaoui.

9 am: Italy on Sunday crossed Britain to become the country with the maximum number of coronavirus deaths in Europe. Italy’s toll stood at 64,520, while Britain’s was 64,267, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

8.50 am: Clinical scientist Gagandeep Kang says that though coronavirus vaccines are being developed in a short period of time, there has been no compromise in their clinical testing, PTI reports.

“What has changed is the approach to the testing where all steps that used to happen between phases of clinical trials have been cut out, which means regulators are working much longer and harder than they ever have before,” he tells the news agency in an interview.

8.40 am: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warns that the next four to six months could be the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reports.

“The IHME [Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation] forecast shows over 2,00,000 additional deaths,” he adds. “If we would follow the rules, in terms of wearing masks and not mixing, we could avoid a large percentage of those deaths.”

The philanthropist’s foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been involved in the efforts to develop vaccines.

8.30 am: The United States will begin the first round of vaccinations from Monday, BBC reports. White House staff members who work closely with President Trump will receive the shots soon, The New York Times reports.

On Sunday, the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine left a facility in Michigan, from where it will be shipped to all 50 states for distribution.

Also read:

Coronavirus: US drug regulator authorises Pfizer vaccine for emergency use

Here are the top updates from Sunday

1. India registered 30,254 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s tally to 98,57,029. The toll rose by 391 to 1,43,019. The country reported less than 40,000 cases for 14 consecutive days.
2. Bharatiya Janata Party President JP Nadda announced that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Nadda said that he will be in home isolation.
   
3. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the coronavirus vaccine will be made free of all costs in the state. Kerala became the latest to join the list of states, including Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that have promised free vaccines to the people.
   
4. Serum Institute of India Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla said that India’s coronavirus vaccination drive may start in January if his firm gets emergency use authorisation by the end of December.
   
5. The global coronavirus count crossed 7.16 crore and the toll went over 16.04 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The number of recoveries went past 4.68 crore.