A new strain of coronavirus identified in the United Kingdom is up to 70% more infectious but it is not thought to be more deadly and vaccines should still be effective, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and scientists has said.
While the WHO has assured that they are closely monitoring the developments, Netherlands has banned flights carrying passengers from the United Kingdom from December 20 to January 1.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here . A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are the latest updates:
2nd COVID-19 vaccine authorized in U.S. preparing to ship out
Workers on Sunday began packaging shipments of the second COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S., a desperately needed boost to efforts to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control.
Employees at a factory in the Memphis area were boxing up the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health. The much-needed shots are expected to be given starting Monday, just three days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized their emergency rollout.
Later Sunday, an expert committee will debate who should be next in line for early doses of the Moderna vaccine and a similar one from Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech. Pfizer’s shots were first shipped out a week ago and started being used the next day, kicking off the nation’s biggest vaccination drive. - AP
COVID: With no clarity on board exam dates, schools conduct pre-board exams in online mode
With no clarity yet on dates of board examinations next year, several schools are already conducting pre-board exams in online mode to ensure that students are fully prepared in time.
While the Ministry of Education (MoE) is yet to take a call on the dates of board exams for class 10 and 12, it has already clarified that the exams will be in pen and paper mode only.
Schools in Delhi are restricting to online exams while those in Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida are also planning exams in blended mode as per easing of restrictions by respective state governments.
“The CBSE conducted the NEET and JEE exams in 2020 during the pandemic in offline mode. This strongly indicates that students of grade 10 and 12 should prepare themselves for an offline examination. We managed to conduct pre-board exams in online mode, keeping in consideration safety and security of staff and students.
“However, that amount of practice is not enough for pupils, we are exploring adopting offline mode of conducting exams as per the CBSE guidelines,” said Priyanka Barara, Principal, MRG School, Rohini. - PTI
India reports 26,624 new cases
India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,00,31,223 with 26,624 new infections being reported in a day, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 95.80 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 95.51%, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
The death toll increased to 1,45,477 with 341 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 95,80,402 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.51%, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45%.
The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 4 lakh for the 14th consecutive day. There are 3,05,344 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 3.04% of the total caseload, the data stated. - PTI
Pandemic lessons from IIT-Madras
On December 9, officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Health Department realised that a cluster of COVID-19 cases was emerging at one of the premier academic institutions in the city — the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras. A number of factors were at play, but at the top of the list of possible sources of infection was a dining hall where 700-odd students residing in hostels dined, and common toilets.
The ‘IIT cluster’ may not be as large in size as the previous clusters reported in the State, but it sounded an alarm for officials. With higher educational institutions reopening early this month, the outbreak of infections at IIT raised concerns about similar clusters in colleges and universities, prompting the State government to take up screening and testing of hostellers across the State.
At a time when fresh COVID-19 infections in the State are falling and the test positivity rate is below 2%, the IIT cluster showed that places of dining could turn into problematic areas and lead to a sharp spike in cases. Health officials saw this as a lesson for the public.
Kerala's COVID-19 case burden crosses 7 lakh mark
COVID-19 case graph is beginning to rise again in the State, post-local body polls, as had been anticipated by all public health experts and epidemiologists.
On Saturday, the cumulative case burden of the State crossed the seven lakh mark to reach 7,00,158 cases.
Health Minister, K. K. Shylaja, said that the next two weeks would be crucial for Kerala, as the State’s COVID-19 disease curve, which had been on a plateau since the last week of October, was expected to rise again. The State could be entering a new phase of the epidemic, she added
Odisha identifies 3.2 lakh healthcare workers for preference in vaccination
The Odisha government has prepared a list of 3.2 lakh healthcare workers, including 1.4 lakh integrated child development services functionaries, who will get preference in the vaccination programme for COVID-19.
These workers have been enrolled in 3,898 health facilities — 2,245 government institutions and 1,653 private hospitals.
According to the Health and Family Welfare department, 8,267 vaccinators have been identified to carry out vaccination. The database of healthcare workers has been uploaded by districts in a portal.
