Several States have stepped up efforts to trace and test persons who have flown in or transited from the United Kingdom between November 25 and December 23, for a more infective version of the COVID-19 virus . Flights between India and the U.K. remain suspended till December 31 . Over 6,000 travellers from U.K. have been traced across States
Meanwhile, a single-day rise of 23,067 new COVID-19 cases and 336 fatalities have pushed India's virus caseload to 1,01,46,845 and death toll to 1,47,092, according to the centre's data today.
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 live updates:
10 UK returnees test COVID-19 positive in Karnataka
Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Friday said so far 10 people who have come to the state from the UK have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent for genetic sequencing to find out whether it is a new strain of virus that has infected them.
"Among the UK returnees according to information I have about 10 people have tested positive, all their samples have been sent to NIMHANS, two to three days are required for genetic sequencing, once that (report) is out we will get to know whether it is the second strain, and accordingly we will follow necessary procedures for treatment," he said.
Bharat Biotech's top brass calls on Vice President
Bharat Biotech''s top brass on Friday called on Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu in Hyderabad.
"The discussion revolved around the status of the indigenous vaccine and the plans to make it available in India and rest of the world. It is developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV)," an official statement said.
The indigenous, inactivated vaccine is being developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech''s BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment facility, the statement said.
U.S. to require negative COVID-19 test from U.K. travellers
The U.S. will require airline passengers from Britain to get a negative COVID-19 test before their flight, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has announced.
The U.S. is the latest country to announce new travel restrictions because of a new variant of the coronavirus that is spreading in Britain.
Airline passengers from the United Kingdom will have to get negative COVID-19 tests within three days of their trip and provide the results to the airline, the CDC said in a statement on Thursday. The agency said the order will be signed Friday and go into effect on Monday.
Recoveries cross 97 lakh, caseload rises to 1,01,46,845
India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,01,46,845 with 23,067 new infections being reported in a day, while recoveries have crossed the 97-lakh mark, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Friday.
The death toll increased to 1,47,092 with 336 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 97,17,834, pushing the national recovery rate to 95.77 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent. The COVID-19 active caseload in the country remained below three lakh for the fourth consecutive day.
We will talk to airport authorities: Jain on 2 COVID-positive flyers slipping out report
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said the city government will approach the airport authorities over a report that two COVID-positive flyers from the United Kingdom had slipped out from the Delhi airport.
Amid mounting concern over a new strain of the virus detected in the UK, the Delhi government on Tuesday had said people who have arrived there recently from that country, are being traced and tested, while an institutional quarantine facility was being set up separately for positive cases at the LNJP Hospital.
At a press conference on Thursday, when asked about the report that two passengers from the UK, who had landed at Delhi airport on Tuesday, had further travelled to Punjab and Andhra Pradesh despite testing positive for COVID-19, Jain said, "I have also read about it in the newspaper today. Flight operations and security there is under the airport authorities... But, a person who has tested positive, should not have moved out," Mr. Jain said.
‘Delhi ready to receive vaccine from Centre’
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that Delhi was fully prepared and the government had made all arrangements to receive the COVID-19 vaccine from the Centre for storage and to administer to patients. He said this after attending a review meeting on vaccination steps.
In the first phase, he said, the vaccine will be given to 51 lakh people as earmarked by the Central government in priority lists, which include 3 lakh healthcare workers, 6 lakh frontline workers and 42 lakh people either aged above 50 or below but with co-morbidities.
Active case pool climbs steadily in Kerala
The active case pool of COVID-19 patients in the State, which had been brought down to 57,000 after it hit the peak at 97,000 plus cases, is now swelling slowly and steadily since the past few days.
The State’s active case pool rose to 63,155 on Thursday, with 5,177 new cases of COVID-19 being reported, when 56,073 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate stood at 9.23%.
(With inputs from agencies)
