India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,02,07,871 with 20,021 infections being reported in a day, while recoveries have surged to 97.82 lakh, according to Health Ministry data. The daily new COVID-19 caseload had dropped below 19,000 after six months on December 27.
Meanwhile in the U.S., President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion pandemic relief package , ending days of drama over his refusal to accept the bipartisan deal that will deliver long-sought cash to businesses and individuals and avert a federal government shutdown.
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:
China jails citizen-journalist for four years over Wuhan virus reporting
A Chinese court handed a four-year jail term on Monday to a citizen-journalist who reported from the central city of Wuhan at the peak of last year's coronavirus outbreak , on grounds of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” her lawyer said.
Zhang Zhan, 37, the first such person known to have been tried, was among a handful of people whose first-hand accounts from crowded hospitals and empty streets painted a more dire picture of the pandemic epicentre than the official narrative.
Krishna district officials conduct dry run of COVID-19 vaccination programme
The Krishna district administration on Monday successfully conducted a dry run of the COVID-19 vaccination programme by carrying out various exercises that go into the actual event whenever it begins.
Krishna district Collector A. Md. Imtiyaz, who inaugurated the dry run at the urban primary health centre at Prakash Nagar in Vijayawada, said the (dummy) vaccine was transported from the central storage facility to cold chain points at various places.
The dry run was carried out in five locations with 25 test beneficiaries (healthcare workers) for each session.
Urgent action expected in South Africa as hospitals run out of beds, oxygen amid COVID-19 spike
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to recall ministers and top officials from their festive season break to seek urgent ways of addressing an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 infections and deaths, with hospitals turning away patients due to a lack of beds and oxygen.
"I can confidently say that the meeting (called by Ramaphosa) will be on Tuesday (to) consider further measures to ensure that we curb this alarming rate of spread," the weekly Sunday Times quoted a government insider.
Over 20,000 new infections reported in single day
India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,02,07,871 with 20,021 infections being reported in a day, while recoveries have surged to 97.82 lakh, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The death toll increased to 1,47,901 with 279 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 97,82,669, pushing the national recovery rate to 95.83%, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45%.
The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the seventh consecutive day.
Guidelines for New Year celebrations will be issued on Dec. 28: Karnataka Minister
The Karnataka government will issue guidelines for new year celebrations on December 28, to prevent further spread of coronavirus, Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Sunday.
Addressing media, Mr. Bommai said, "The objective is to avoid huge congregation of people at public places giving room for coronavirus to spread rapidly." To a query, the Minister said organising large parties at public places will be prohibited.
477 passengers from Europe and Middle East isolated in Mumbai
A total of 477 out of the 868 passengers who landed in Mumbai from Europe and the Middle East on December 26 have been quarantined in Mumbai, an official said on Sunday.
These 868 passengers landed from 11 international flights, he said. "Out of the 868 passengers landed on Saturday from Europe and the Middle East, 477 passengers were quarantined in Mumbai while 385 were sent to other states. Six passengers were exempted from (institutional) quarantine," the official added.
U.S. taking hard look at variant of coronavirus: Fauci
U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously”, the government’s top infectious disease expert said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci endorsed the decision of U.S. officials to require negative COVID-19 tests before letting people from Britain enter the U.S.
(With inputs from agencies)
