Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Johnson & Johnson Pauses Vaccine Trial as Participant Falls Ill; WHO Chief Warns Against Pursuing 'Unethical' Herd Immunity to Stop Virus

Confirmed Coronavirus Cases in Germany Increase by 4,122 | The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 4,122 to 329,453, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed. The reported death toll rose by 13 to 9,634, the tally showed.

Trump Opposes Perpetual Lockdown, Says Cure Cannot be Worse than Problem Itself | Vehemently opposing those advocating perpetual lockdowns to address the coronavirus pandemic, US President Donald Trump has said that cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. Speaking at his first rally since contracting coronavirus, Trump said that lockdowns have done tremendous damage to the states. We gotta remember I said it right at the beginning. The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself. Can't. The cure cannot be worse, Trump told thousands of his supporters in the battleground State of Florida.

Papua New Guinea To Fit Electronic Ankle Monitor For Checking Covid-19 Quarantine Duration | Papua New Guinea will fit all foreign workers coming into the country with an electronic ankle monitor for the duration of their Covid-19 quarantine, the government’s pandemic controller has said. PNG has struggled to control outbreaks in the capital, Port Moresby, and western province, and charter flights carrying foreign workers run the risk of spreading the virus across the country.

India Reports Spike of 55,342 New Covid-19 Cases & 706 Deaths | India reports a spike of 55,342 new Covid-19 cases and 706 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total case tally stands at 71,75,881 including 8,38,729 active cases, 62,27,296 cured/discharged/migrated cases & 1,09,856 deaths: Union Health Ministry.

With there being an uptick in the coronavirus cases in West Bengal, many doctors are now worried that they will have to continue working through the festive season.

Pfizer Modifies Protocol for Virus Vaccine Study | Drugmaker Pfizer has again modified the protocol for its late-stage study of its vaccine against the new coronavirus, this time to include more young participants. The company said on Monday that it's received permission from the Food and Drug Administration to include adolescents aged 12 through 15 in its global COVID-19 vaccine study. New York-based Pfizer originally planned for 30,000 participants, but in September expanded that to 44,000 people. That increase was made to boost diversity in the trial population, specifically by including 16- and 17-year-old teens, as well as stable patients with some common chronic infections: hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

 8,89,45,107 Total Number of Samples Tested So Far | Total number of samples tested up to 12th October is 8,89,45,107 including 10,73,014 samples tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research.

Chhattisgarh Adds 2,875 New Covid-19 Cases, 33 Die | With 2,875 new COVID-19 cases and 33 more deaths, Chhattisgarh's total tally rose to 1,45,247 and the toll to 1,286, a health official said. The number of people who have been discharged increased to 1,16,540 after 499 people were discharged from various hospitals while 1,745 patients completed their home isolation period during the day.

Trump also mocked his opponent, whom he has nicknamed 'Sleepy Joe,' saying that 'practically nobody showed up' to Biden's campaign event.

Post October 9, active cases fell below the 9 lakh-mark and have steadily followed a downward slope. 

India is showing a trend of declining average daily cases over the past 5 weeks. After a month, on 9th Oct, active cases fell below the 9 lakhs mark and have steadily followed a downward slope: Health Ministry pic.twitter.com/PNaQjXmQma

— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2020

Gujarat Records 1,169 New Covid-19 Cases, 1,442 Recoveries | The COVID-19 tally in Gujarat rose to 1,52,765 on Monday with the addition of 1,169 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, state health department said. Eight more patients died across the state, taking the toll to 3,577, the department said in a release. Also, 1,442 persons recovered from the infection and discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of such cases to 1,33,752, it said, adding that the case recovery rate in the state has now gone up to 87.55 per cent.

Pune Adds 988 Fresh Covid-19 Cases; 37 Die | The Covid-19 tally in Maharashtra's Pune district rose to 3,07,852 with the addition of 988 new cases in the last 24 hours, a health official said. With 37 patients succumbing to the infection, the fatality count in the district reached 7,204, he said. At the same time, 950 patients were discharged from hospitals.

Biden: Trump 'Turned his Back on You' in Pandemic | Joe Biden told a drive-in rally in Ohio that Donald Trump ‘turned his back on you’ during the pandemic and its economic fallout. Biden questioned why Republicans had time for supreme court hearings but no time to come to an agreement with House Democrats on another economic relief package to help individuals, businesses and city and state governments.

Gujarat Textile Industry in Surat Continues to Incur Losses due to Pandemic | "In Feb-March, clothes worth Rs 10,000 crores was supplied across the country, we are yet to get payment. Our business has been badly affected," says Director Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association. 

The West Bengal cabinet on Monday decided to increase the bed strength in government hospitals by 50 per cent and bring down the charge for COVID-19 tests in private health establishments.

Bengal Reports 3,583 New Covid-19 Cases, 60 Fresh Fatalities | West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 2,98,389 on Monday as 3,583 more people tested positive for the infection, while 60 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 5,682, a health bulletin said. Kolkata reported the highest number of fresh fatalities at 19, followed by North 24 Parganas (16), South 24 Parganas (eight) and Malda (four), it said.

New Zealand Sees 18th Day in a Row With no New Community Cases | New Zealand has recorded its 18th consecutive day of no new cases of Covid-19 spread in the community, health officials said. All 39 active cases of the virus in New Zealand were diagnosed in travelers returning to the country, who remain in quarantine facilities run by the government.

Sikkim Reports Seven Fresh Covid-19 Cases, One More Death | Sikkim reported seven fresh COVID-19 cases and one more fatality, an official said. East Sikkim registered six positive cases, while North Sikkim accounted for one infection.

WATCH | Donald Trump Claims He Is Cured And Now ‘Immune’ To Coronavirus

Boris Johnson Sets Out New System for Covid Restrictions | The UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, set out a new, three-tiered system for Covid restrictions to “simplify and standardise” rules in England. The city region of Liverpool was immediately put into the “very high” category, with pubs and bars closed and almost all household mixing banned.

18 new Covid-19 cases reported in Mizoram, taking the total tally to 2,202. The number of active cases is at 156 while 2,046 people have been discharged so far. No death reported in the State till date. 

Mainland China Reports it's First Locally Transmitted Infection | Mainland China reported its first locally transmitted Covid-19 infections in nearly two months, as Qingdao city launched a city-wide testing drive after discovering new cases linked to a hospital designated to treat imported infections. The National Health Commission said in a statement that a total of 13 Covid-19 infections were reported in mainland China on 12 October, down from 21 a day earlier.

South Korea Reports 102 New Coronavirus Cases | South Korea reported 102 new coronavirus cases, marking a triple-digit increase in six days, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. Daily infections had fallen largely into the double-digit range in the past two weeks, which led the government to relax some rules on social distancing this week.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman K Sivan said India's first human space flight was targeted in August 2022, but owing to Covid-19's impact on the operations, there will be a slight…

Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Trial Paused Due to Unexplained Illness | Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine trial has been paused, Stat News reports, due to “an unexplained illness in a study participant.” A document sent to outside researchers running the 60,000-patient clinical trial states that a "pausing rule" has been met, the online system used to enroll patients in the study has been closed and the data and safety monitoring board would be convened, the report said 

Trump Tests Negative for Covid-19, is Not Infectious: White House Physician | U.S. President Donald Trump has tested negative for COVID-19 and he is not infectious to others, the White House physician said, 10 days after Trump announced he had contracted the coronavirus. However, Trump returned to the campaign trail with a rally in Sanford, Florida, his first since he disclosed on Oct. 2 that he tested positive for COVID-19.