Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, reviewed the status of passengers coming from the U.K. to India and found positive in the States/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Kerala, and the States’ response measures, in a meeting held through video conference on Wednesday.
The States were advised to co-ordinate with the respective Airport Health Offices (APHO) and surveillance officials in their State in order to ensure adherence to the SOPs for Epidemiological Surveillance and Response in the context of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in United Kingdom.
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:
Pakistan reports 111 coronavirus deaths in one day
Pakistan has reported 111 new deaths due to coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the highest during the second wave of the pandemic which hit the nation in November, the health ministry said on Thursday.
The Ministry of National Health Services said the last time deaths crossed hundred figure within a day during the second wave of pandemic was on December 15 when a total of 105 people died due to the contagious disease.
“The total number of cases in the country has reached 465,070. The total number of deaths too have reached 9,668 as the highest number of deaths which is at 111 within one day was reported during the second wave of pandemic,” the health ministry said in a statement. - PTI
Delhi fully prepared to receive, store and give vaccine to priority category persons: Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses the media on coronavirus situation:
“The COVID-19 situation in Delhi has significantly improved, the infection rate has gone down and so have the deaths, which we need to stop completely
“I have reviewed the situation around COVID-19 vaccination in the city and we are completely ready for the process.
“Healthcare workers will be the first to be vaccinated, there are around 3 lakh of them. Then there are around 6 lakh frontline workers such as policemen and sanitation staff. And then those aged above 50 and with comorbidities of whom there are 42 lakh in the city.
“This totals to around 51 lakh people who have almost been identified. Over the next few days we will have facilities to vaccinate 1.15 crore people who have registered for vaccination.
“The government will notify those people for vaccination through various means. Locations are being identified and manpower being deployed for the process.
“All these processes are being completed as we wait for the approval of a vaccine in the country. We are fully prepared to vaccinate all these priority groups as soon as we get the go-ahead."
Efforts on to locate 602 people who came to Goa from U.K., UAE
In the wake of detection of a new COVID-19 variant in the U.K., Goa health authorities are trying to track down 602 people who arrived in the state from Britain and the UAE since December 9, an official said on December 24.
The maximum number of people who have arrived from these two places are expected to be in Cansualim area of South Goa district, predominantly a beach destination, he said.
Meghalaya bars entry of travellers from U.K.
Amid concerns over the detection of a mutated and more infectious strain of COVID-19 in the UK, the Meghalaya government has barred the entry of individuals from the European country into the state.
The government has also urged people who have recently returned from Britain or transited through the country to stay in isolation and inform the government about their travel history, according to an official order.
"Tourists coming from the UK are prohibited from entering the state with immediate effect in view of the (detection of) a new highly infectious COVID-19 strain.
"All entrants to the state (who have come) from or transited through the UK in the past 4 weeks (from 25th November to 23rd December 2020) are required to declare their travel history (of past 14 days) to the surveillance units in the state and undergo RT-PCR test," Chief Secretary MS Rao said in the order issued on Wednesday.
India records 24,712 new cases
India''s COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,01,23,778 with 24,712 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries surged to 96.93 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The death toll increased to 1,46,756 with 312 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Police keep vigil during the night curfew, imposed in the backdrop of new strain of coronavirus emerging in U.K., at Marine drive in Mumbai on Tuesday night.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 96,93,173 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.75 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the third consecutive day.
There are 2,83,849 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 2.80 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
India''s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
England halts flights from South Africa as coronavirus variant spreads
Britain's transport minister said he had ordered flights and arrivals from South Africa to be halted after a potentially more infectious variant of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 had spread to Britain.
"I’ve taken the decision to temporarily stop flights and arrivals entering England from South Africa from 9am tomorrow following an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said.
U.K. strain unlikely to affect efficacy of vaccines, say scientists
The faster spreading coronavirus strain first detected in the U.K. is unlikely to make vaccines less effective as of now but the preventives may need to be appropriately altered if more mutations occur over time, say scientists.
According to Jeremy Farrar, director of the London-based research charity Wellcome Trust UK, there is no indication at the moment that the new strain, VUI-202012/0 that was detected on September 21, would evade treatments and vaccines. “However, the mutation is a reminder of the power of the virus to adapt, and that cannot be ruled out in the future,” Mr. Farrar said in a statement.
Around 2,800 returnees from U.K. being monitored: Minister
Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar on Wednesday said around 2,800 persons, who had arrived in the State from the U.K., over the past few days, were under complete observation. These persons were under “three-pronged observation”, he said. Their particulars have been provided to the police and the Health Department, besides local body authorities, he said, speaking to reporters in Veerapatti village, Annavasal block, in Pudukottai district, after inaugurating an Amma Mini Clinic.
Asked whether these persons would be subjected to RT-PCR tests again, Mr. Vijayabaskar said the tests had already been done and that they had tested negative. They are under observation to check if they have any symptoms, he said.
Rajinikanth tests negative
The shooting of Rajinikanth’s Annaatthe , being produced by Kalanithi Maran under his Sun Pictures banner, has been postponed after four crew members tested COVID-19 positive.
“Superstar Rajinikanth and other crew members have tested negative,” Sun Pictures said through a message on its official twitter page.
South Africa set to surpass COVID's first wave peak
The rate of coronavirus infections in South Africa will soon surpass the peak hit in the first wave earlier in the year, the health ministry warned on Wednesday, as the country battles a new, faster-spreading variant of the respiratory disease.
Positive cases increased by 14,046, pushing total infections to 954,258, the ministry said.
The positivity rate - or the percentage of all coronavirus tests performed that are actually positive - was at 26%, around double the average rate of infection the country had seen before December, when the virus showed signs of waning.
Govt. issues alert over new strain of coronavirus
The Andhra Pradesh government has issued an alert on the possible spread of a new strain of the coronavirus (SARS COV-2) through people travelling from the United Kingdom, which has been witnessing a sharp spike in the infection count since the last few days.
The State recorded 379 new positive cases in the last 24 hours and three persons died of the infection in Chittoor, Kadapa and Krishna districts during the period.
Russia cuts size of COVID-19 vaccine study, stops enrolment
Russia''s Health Ministry agreed Wednesday to cut the size of a study of a domestically developed coronavirus vaccine and to stop the enrolment of volunteers.
The decision comes a week after developers said enrolment of study volunteers has slowed since Russia began giving out the Sputnik V vaccine while the late-stage study was still continuing. They also cited ethical concerns about giving a dummy shot to some of the volunteers. The study size was cut to about 31,000 from 40,000 participants.
(With inputs from our Correspondents and agencies)
