Coronavirus: Centre writes to four states to keep ‘strict vigil’ as upsurge reported in daily cases

11.24 pm: Delhi’s coronavirus tally climbs by 486 to 6,28,838, reports PTI. The toll in the national Capital rises to 10,644. This is the sixth day the daily cases has remained below 500.

11.23 pm: Uttar Pradesh record 815 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the state’s tally to 5,90,844, while 11 more fatalities take the toll to 8,452, reports PTI.

11.20 pm: West Bengal Health Secretary NK Nigam says the state is witnessing a declining trend in the coronavirus fatality rate as well as the number of daily cases for the past few days, reports PTI. The state reported 921 daily cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 5,58,173. The toll climbed by 18 to 9,881.

11.16 pm: The coronavirus tally in Karnataka climbs to 9,24,898 after the state reports 761 new cases, reports ANI. The toll rises by seven to 12,131. There are 9,03,629 recoveries and 9,119.

11.14 pm: Jharkhand reports 195 new Covid-19 cases, 195 recoveries and one death, according to ANI. With this, the infection tally climbs to 1,16,229, which includes 1,13,740 discharges, 1,041 fatalities, and 1,448 active cases.

11.12 pm: Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan arrives in Chennai to review the coronavirus vaccination dry run, reports ANI.

11.09 pm: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope holds a meeting with his Union counterpart Dr Harsh Vardhan, reports ANI. Tope says that he insisted that the coronavirus vaccination drive must be sponsored by the Centre. “We also pointed out all lacunae in maintaining cold storage of vaccines,” he adds. “We’re ready to execute inoculation drive whenever it is instructed.”

7.56 pm: The Union Ministry of Railways has extended the time limit for the cancellation of counter tickets for train journeys between March 21 and June 31, 2020 from the current six months to nine months, reports PTI.

7.53 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan will visit Tamil Nadu on Friday to review the state’s preparedness and oversee dry run of Covid-19 vaccination, reports PTI.

7.50 pm: With 3,729 new coronavirus cases, Maharashtra’s overall tally rises to 19,58,282. The toll in the state stands at 49,897, according to ANI.

7.48 pm: Tamil Nadu registers 805 new coronavirus cases, 911 recoveries and 12 deaths in 24 hours, reports ANI. The total number of cases stands at 8,23,986, with 8,04,239 recoveries. The toll in the state rises to 12,200.

7.42 pm: Manipur records 47 new coronavirus cases and 35 recoveries, ANI reports, citing the state health department. There are 28,531 overall cases in Manipur, and 27,677 people have recovered so far.

7.37 pm: Union Health Secretary writes to four states – Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal – on taking prompt steps to keep a “strict vigil” to curb the spread of Covid-19. “These states are reporting an upsurge in the number of daily news cases in the recent days,” the government release says.

4.13 pm: The Union health ministry has asked states and Union Territories to be prepared to receive the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine supply shortly, reports PTI. The ministry has said the vaccines will be supplied to the consignee points of the states and Union Territories by the supplier.

4.07 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urges the Centre to extend the ban on flights between India and the United Kingdom till January 31 amid the Covid-19 situation in Britain.

“With great difficulty, people have brought [the] Covid-19 situation in control,” he tweets. “UK’s Covid-19 situation is very serious. Now, why lift [the] ban and expose our people to risk.”

4.03 pm: Drug firm Bharat Biotech has enrolled 25,800 volunteers for the phase three clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, the company says in a statement.

3.54 pm: Delhi records 486 new coronavirus cases, 780 recoveries and 19 deaths in 24 hours, reports ANI, citing a health department bulletin. The number of overcall cases in the Capital stands at 6,28,838, with 6,14,026 recoveries. The toll rises to 10,644.

3.45 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has held a meeting with health ministers of states and Union Territories, a day before the nationwide Covid-19 vaccine dry run, reports Hindustan Times. The minister has asked the state officials to be prepared and stop misinformation campaign.

3.43 pm: A public interest litigation has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to the Centre to remove Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan’s voice from the caller tune on precautions against Covid-19, reports PTI. The plea has argued that Bachchan and his family members, had been infected by the virus.

3.41 pm: Japan declares a state of emergency for Tokyo, and three nearby areas as coronavirus cases continue to surge, reaching a daily record of 2,447 in the country’s capital, reports AP.

1.08 pm: China’s Hebei province on Thursday reports its biggest daily rise of 51 cases in more than five months, according to Reuters.

1.03 pm: Australia requests China to allow World Health Organization’s coronavirus experts into the country without delay, Reuters reports. The experts will investigate the origin of the pandemic in China.

On Tuesday, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had expressed disappointment over China not finalising the visit of the expert team.

1.00 pm: Odisha’s coronavirus count on Thursday rises to 3,31,151 as it reports 230 new cases, according to PTI. The state’s toll rises by one to 1,888.

12.47 pm: Telangana registered 379 new cases on Wednesday, taking its tally to 2,88,789. The state’s toll rose by three to 1,559.

12.45 pm: Schools in Punjab reopen for classes 5 to 12, ANI reports.

10.04 am: The European Union authorises the coronavirus vaccine developed by US drug company Moderna, reports AFP. The Moderna vaccine is the second to be approved by the European Medicines Agency after the one developed by Pfizer.

9.59 am: Britain registers 1,041 fatalities from the coronavirus, the first time the daily death count has topped 1,000 since April.

9.48 am: India registered 20,346 new cases on Thursday morning, taking its tally to 1,03,95,279. The new cases are about 12% higher than Wednesday’s count. The country’s toll rose by 222 to 1,50,336. India’s active cases stood at 2,28,083, while the recoveries reached 1,00,16,859.

Here are the top updates from Wednesday

• India registered 18,088 new cases on Wednesday morning, taking its tally to 1,03,74,932. The new cases are 10.46% higher than Tuesday’s count. The country’s toll rose by 264 to 1,50,114. India’s active cases stood at 2,27,546, while the recoveries reached 99,97,272.
• India on Wednesday reported 15 new cases of the new variant of the coronavirus, first discovered in the United Kingdom, pushing the tally to 73, the health ministry said.
• The Centre on Wednesday said that a second dry run of the Covid-19 vaccination programme will be conducted in nearly all districts of the country on January 8. Meanwhile, central teams will be sent to Kerala to tackle the surge in coronavirus cases.
• The Ministry of Home Affairs told the Tamil Nadu government to rescind the order permitting cinema halls in the state to operate with 100% seating capacity. The ministry said that it diluted the Centre’s December 28 order.
• Beijing on Wednesday said that delays to the mission by World Health Organization experts to visit China to investigate the origins of the coronavirus were “not just a visa issue,” and that talks were underway to fix a specific time.
• Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 8.63 crore people and killed over 18.67 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 4.84 crore people have recovered from the infection in the world.