Coronavirus LIVE Updates: In a span of 24 hours, India saw 47,905 new Covid-19 cases and 550 deaths, taking the total tally in the country to 8,683,916. The total fatalities are at 1,28,121 after the latest update of the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, Delhi recorded its biggest single-day jump of 8,593 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday that took its infection tally to over 4.59 lakh, while 85 new fatalities pushed the national capital's death toll to 7,228, authorities said. The total number of cases in the city stands at 4,59,975, according to the latest health department bulletin. These fresh cases came out of 64,121 tests -- 19,304 RT-PCR and 44,817 rapid antigen -- conducted the previous day. This is the highest number of RT-PCR tests conducted in a day till date, the bulletin said. The city's positivity rate stood at 13.4 per cent, it said. Delhi's previous highest single-day spike of 7,830 cases was recorded on Tuesday. It had also reported 83 deaths. The city recorded 85 fatalities on Wednesday which pushed the death toll to 7,228. The only time it recorded a higher number of deaths was on June 16 (93). The active cases tally on Wednesday rose to 42,629 from 41,385 the previous day, the bulletin said.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told reporters that the third peak of the spread of COVID-19 in the national capital has been longer than the previous peaks but it may subside in the next few days. The number of containment zones in Delhi increased to 4,016 on Wednesday from 3,947 on Tuesday, the bulletin said. The number of people in home isolation increased to 24,435 from 24,178 the previous day, it said. The sudden spike in COVID-19 cases comes amid the festive season and rising pollution level. While Durga Puja celebrations ended on October 25, Diwali and Chhath Puja are days away. The National Centre for Disease Control, in a report drafted recently, had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 per day taking into account the upcoming winter season, related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.
Here are the LIVE Updates on the Covid-19 Pandemic:
◕ A Telangana Doctors Association is on a Strike to Resume 'Non-covid' Services at Hospital: Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T JUDA) has called for a strike, and has boycotted their duties, demanding the 'resumption of non-COVID services' at the Gandhi Medical College and Hospital in Secunderabad.
◕ Countries in Americas Not Ready for Vaccines That Need Very Cold Storage, Says WHO: Less developed countries in the Americas are not ready to handle messenger RNA vaccines, such as the one developed by Pfizer Inc, that need very low storage temperatures of minus 70 degree Celsius, the WHO's regional office said on Wednesday. This could become a challenge for transporting such vaccines in countries that do not have the cold storage capacity. Pfizer recently announced its vaccine is more than 90% effective based on initial trial results.
◕ Hope for vaccinations: The European Union could "optimistically" begin vaccinations against Covid-19 in the first quarter of 2021, the director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) says. US pharma giant Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech have lifted hopes by reporting on Monday that their coronavirus vaccine has shown 90 percent effectiveness in preliminary results of a trial still underway. The European Commission says it has approved a contract with the two groups to purchase up to 300 million doses of their vaccine. The US, which has pre-ordered 100 million doses, says vaccinations there could begin before the end of the year.
◕ Vaccine competition rages: Russia, determined to lead the race, claims its own vaccine Sputnik V is 92 percent effective. In Brazil, clinical trials of the Chinese-developed CoronaVac vaccine, suspended Monday after the death of a volunteer, are authorised to resume. CoronaVac has been caught up in a messy political battle in the country, where its most visible backer has been a leading opponent of President Jair Bolsonaro.
◕ Ukraine demos: All non-essential businesses in Ukraine will be shuttered for three weekends in November, the government says, despite protests in the capital Kiev against the new restrictions.
◕ Partial lockdown in Hungary: Hungary imposes a partial lockdown for at least 30 days. Gatherings are now forbidden, restaurants closed, cultural events cancelled and the curfew extended to 8:00 pm until 5:00 am.