India Coronavirus Cases: COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.47%. (Representational)
India's COVID-19 tally rose to 87.28 lakh on Friday with a single-day increase of 44,879 cases, while the recoveries surged to 81,15,580, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.97 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry.
The death count reached 1,28,668 after 547 more fatalities were reported in the country in a span of 24 hours and the total coronavirus cases mounted to 87,28,795, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.47 per cent.
There are 4,84,547 active cases in the country which comprise 5.55 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 12,31,01,739 samples have been tested so far with 11,39,230 samples being tested on Thursday.
Here are the LIVE updates on Coronavirus Cases:
New coronavirus cases drop sharply in France's second week of lockdown
New coronavirus infections and hospital admissions for COVID-19 dropped sharply at the end of the second week of a new nationwide confinement in France, health ministry data showed on Friday.The ministry reported 23,794 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 33,172 on Thursday and compared to 60,486 last Friday.
The number of people going into hospital with the virus plunged to 24 from 737 on Thursday and the number of people going into intensive care dropped to just four from 96 on Thursday and more than 100 per day every weekday last week.
The number of coronavirus deaths in hospitals increased slightly to 456 from 425 on Thursday.
France also reported 476 deaths in retirement homes over the past three days, for a total of 932 deaths reported on Friday.
New coronavirus infections and hospital admissions for COVID-19 dropped sharply at the end of the second week of a new nationwide confinement in France, health ministry data showed on Friday.The ministry reported 23,794 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 33,172 on Thursday and compared to 60,486 last Friday.
The number of people going into hospital with the virus plunged to 24 from 737 on Thursday and the number of people going into intensive care dropped to just four from 96 on Thursday and more than 100 per day every weekday last week.
The number of coronavirus deaths in hospitals increased slightly to 456 from 425 on Thursday.
France also reported 476 deaths in retirement homes over the past three days, for a total of 932 deaths reported on Friday.
Trust in vaccines vital to halting pandemic: WHO
As the world celebrates advances in vaccines against the novel coronavirus, a top WHO expert warned in an interview with AFP that public distrust risked rendering even the most effective treatments useless against the pandemic.
"A vaccine that sits in a freezer or in a refrigerator or on a shelf and doesn't get used is doing nothing to help shorten this pandemic," said Kate O'Brien, director of the World Health Organization's immunisation department.
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced Monday that their prospective vaccine had proven 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in ongoing final phase trials involving more than 40,000 people.
O'Brien hailed the interim results as "extremely important", and voiced hope that preliminary data from a handful of other candidate vaccines in similarly advanced trials would come through soon.
If the complete data show that "one or more of these vaccines has very, very substantial efficacy, that is really good news for putting another tool in the toolbox" for fighting the pandemic, she said.
But with the pandemic continuing to surge after already claiming some 1.3 million lives, she voiced deep concern at growing signs of vaccine hesitancy, with misinformation and mistrust colouring people's acceptance of scientific advances.
"We are not going to be successful as a world in controlling the pandemic with the use of vaccines as one of the tools unless people are willing to get vaccinated," O'Brien said.
More needed to be done to boost public "confidence in the fact that the vaccines that WHO is involved in evaluating, we will not be compromising on safety or efficacy," she said.
As the world celebrates advances in vaccines against the novel coronavirus, a top WHO expert warned in an interview with AFP that public distrust risked rendering even the most effective treatments useless against the pandemic.
"A vaccine that sits in a freezer or in a refrigerator or on a shelf and doesn't get used is doing nothing to help shorten this pandemic," said Kate O'Brien, director of the World Health Organization's immunisation department.
US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech announced Monday that their prospective vaccine had proven 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 infections in ongoing final phase trials involving more than 40,000 people.
O'Brien hailed the interim results as "extremely important", and voiced hope that preliminary data from a handful of other candidate vaccines in similarly advanced trials would come through soon.
If the complete data show that "one or more of these vaccines has very, very substantial efficacy, that is really good news for putting another tool in the toolbox" for fighting the pandemic, she said.
But with the pandemic continuing to surge after already claiming some 1.3 million lives, she voiced deep concern at growing signs of vaccine hesitancy, with misinformation and mistrust colouring people's acceptance of scientific advances.
"We are not going to be successful as a world in controlling the pandemic with the use of vaccines as one of the tools unless people are willing to get vaccinated," O'Brien said.
More needed to be done to boost public "confidence in the fact that the vaccines that WHO is involved in evaluating, we will not be compromising on safety or efficacy," she said.
South Korea reports 205 coronavirus cases, above 200 for first time since September
South Korea reported 205 new coronavirus cases as of Friday midnight, rising above 200 for the first time since September, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday.
Of the new cases, 166 were domestically transmitted and 39 imported.
More than 65% of the locally transmitted cases were from Seoul and Gyeonggi province, a densely populated region near the capital Seoul.
South Korea reported 205 new coronavirus cases as of Friday midnight, rising above 200 for the first time since September, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Saturday.
Of the new cases, 166 were domestically transmitted and 39 imported.
More than 65% of the locally transmitted cases were from Seoul and Gyeonggi province, a densely populated region near the capital Seoul.
New York fights virus resurgence as Trump touts vaccine breakthrough
New York battled to fend off a second wave of coronavirus infections with new restrictions on bars and restaurants Friday, as Donald Trump said the first Americans would start receiving a vaccine in "a matter of weeks."
In his first public address since being declared the loser of the November 3 election, the US president touted medical breakthroughs that happened under his watch but said he remained firmly against new lockdowns.
He predicted a Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which the companies have said is 90 percent effective in trials so far, would receive emergency approval "extremely soon."
"The vaccine will be distributed to frontline workers, the elderly, and high-risk Americans immediately, it will be a matter of weeks," Trump told reporters at the White House, adding it would be available to the "entire general population" as soon as April.
Cases are surging throughout America and Europe, with governments forced to take more drastic action despite fears about the devastation inflicted on their economies.
India To Get 100 Million Oxford Vaccine Shots By December: Adar Poonawalla
The world's largest vaccine maker is ramping up production of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 shot, aiming to have 100 million doses ready by December for an inoculation drive that could begin across India that same month.
If final-stage trial data show AstraZeneca's candidate gives effective protection from the virus, the Serum Institute of India -- which is partnered to produce at least one billion doses -- may get emergency authorization from New Delhi by December, said Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of the family-owned firm based in Pune.
That initial amount will go to India, Poonawalla said in an interview on Thursday. Full approval early next year will allow distribution on a 50-50 basis with the South Asian nation and Covax, the World Health Organization-backed body that's purchasing shots for poor nations.
Serum, which has tied up with five developers, has so far made 40 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine in the past two months and aims to start manufacturing Novavax's contender soon.
"We were a bit concerned it was a big risk," said 39-year-old Poonawalla. But both AstraZeneca and Novavax's shots "are looking pretty good."
Tamil Nadu's Daily Coronavirus Cases Below 2,000 First Time Since June
After nearly five months, Tamil Nadu's daily coronavirus tally fell below 2,000 on Friday, helping active cases drop below 18,000. The state has reported the fourth-highest number of cases in the country. Read more
After nearly five months, Tamil Nadu's daily coronavirus tally fell below 2,000 on Friday, helping active cases drop below 18,000. The state has reported the fourth-highest number of cases in the country. Read more
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