The Prime Minister will reach the plant, located in the Changodar industrial area, over 20 km from Ahmedabad, around 9.30 am, an official said.Coronavirus India Live updates: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Pune, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad on Saturday to review coronavirus vaccine development work at facilities there, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said. “Tomorrow, PM @narendramodi will embark on a 3 city visit to personally review the vaccine development & manufacturing process. He will visit the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad & Serum Institute of India in Pune,” the PMO tweeted.
Tomorrow, PM @narendramodi will embark on a 3 city visit to personally review the vaccine development & manufacturing process. He will visit the Zydus Biotech Park in Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad & Serum Institute of India in Pune.
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 27, 2020
Meanwhile, India’s Covid-19 tally crossed the 93 lakh mark after recording 43,082 new cases in the 24 hours ending 9 am Friday. As many as 492 new fatalities took the country’s death toll to 1,35,715. Out of India’s 93,09,788 total cases, over 4.55 infections are active, while over 87.18 lakh patients have recovered after testing positive.
Nearly 70 per cent of Indians aged 10 and above were exposed to the SARS-CoV-2, according to ICMR’s second national serosurvey. This amounted for an estimated 74.3 million infections by the month of August, it noted. An overall seroprevalence of below 10 per cent indicated that a large proportion of Indians are still susceptible to the virus.
Amid AstraZeneca’s acknowledgement of a key error in dosage received by some study participants, the Serum Institute of India said that even at the lowest efficacy of around 70 per cent, the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine candidate is viable against the virus. This comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit the Pune-based Serum Institute of India on Saturday to review the mechanism of COVID-19 vaccine production and its distribution.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Friday on key bilateral, regional and international issues, as the two leaders agreed to work towards a "quantum leap" in cooperation between India and the UK in all areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, and fighting COVID-19.
They exchanged views on the challenges posed by the pandemic, and reviewed the promising cooperation between India and the UK in the area of vaccine development and manufacturing, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said. The leaders agreed that officials from both sides would continue their work to quickly finalise an ambitious long-term roadmap for the India-UK partnership, it said.
"Had an excellent discussion with my friend, UK PM Boris Johnson on an ambitious roadmap for India-UK ties in the next decade. We agreed to work towards a quantum leap in our cooperation in all areas - trade and investment, defence & security, climate change, and fighting Covid-19," Modi tweeted.
Goa's coronavirus caseload went up by 150 and reached 47,491 on Friday, while the toll increased by one to touch 686, an official said.
The number of people who have recovered reached 45,492 after 152 people were discharged during the day, leaving the state with 1,313 active cases, he added. A total of 2,645 samples were tested during the day, he added.
Goa's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 47,491, new cases 150, death toll 686, discharged 45,492, active cases 1,313, samples tested till date 3,42,681.
The Maharashtra government on Fridayextended thelockdown on account of coronavirus in the state till the midnight of December 31, 2020, an official release said. In the last couple of months, the government has eased several lockdown restrictions.
Revised guidelines have been issued from time to time by, allowing resumption of various activities as part of the "Mission Begin Again", the release said.
Earlier this week, the government allowed reopening of places of worship. Schools for students from Std 9th to 12th have also reopened in some parts of the state this week. Hotels and bars have been already allowed to reopen.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was on Friday fighting back rebels from within his own Conservative Party who are opposed to most of England being put into the toughest two tiers of high COVID-19 alert after the country's second stay-at-home lockdown ends next Wednesday.
In a Downing Street briefing on Thursday after he ended his self-isolation on being in contact with a COVID-19 positive MP, Johnson defended the three-tier system as the best chance of avoiding a third complete national lockdown in the New Year.
"If we ease off now, we risk losing control of this virus all over again, casting aside our hard won gains, and forcing us back into a New Year national lockdown with all the damage that would mean," said Johnson.
Hyderabad-based drugmaker Hetero Drugs, through its biologics arm, will be producing "over" 100 million doses of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V starting 2021, said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Friday. The firm, through subsidiary Hetero Biopharma, is expected to produce these doses over the course of the year, according to RDIF. The vaccines produced here may also be used to fulfill demand from other countries.
Sputnik V is also expected to be tested in mid- to late-stage clinical trials in India by Dr Reddy's Laboratories, another Hyderabad-headquartered drugmaker.
According to the latest interim analysis of data collected from participants undergoing Sputnik V trials in Russia, the vaccine seems to have demonstrated an efficacy of 91.4%.
With the addition of 742 new cases of coronavirus, the count of infections in Maharashtra's Thane district has reached 2,26,337, an official said on Friday. Apart from the latest infections detected on Thursday, the district also recorded 14 casualties that have raised the toll to 5,648, the official said.
With a recovery rate of 94.27 per cent, a total of 2,13,373 persons have been discharged from various hospitals in the district so far, he said. There are currently 7,316 active cases in the district, the official said.
According to the official data, of the COVID-19 cases reported so far, Kalyan alone accounts for 53,350 infections, followed by Thane city with 50,657, Navi Mumbai with 47,701 and Mira Bhayandar with 23,950 cases.
Five coronavirus patients died after a fire broke out in the ICU of a designated COVID-19 hospital at Rajkot in Gujarat on Friday, officials said. The Supreme Court took cognizance of the fire incident and sought a report from Gujarat government on the issue. Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said 26 patients at the hospital were rescued and shifted to other facilities.
The fire broke out around 12.30 am in the ICU ward located on the first floor of the four-storey Uday Shivanand Hospital in Anand Bungalow Chowk area, where around 31 patients were admitted, Patel added. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed grief over the incident and ordered a probe into it. He also announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each deceased.
Rajkot Police Commissioner Manoj Agarwal said, 'Out of the 11 coronavirus patients admitted to the ICU ward, five lost their lives in the fire, which was quickly brought under control before it could spread to other floors.' Patel said the blaze broke out in the ICU ward and was brought under control within half an hour by the fire brigade. While three coronavirus patients died on the spot, two others succumbed to the injuries while they were being shifted to another hospital, he added.
Hyderabad-based drugmaker Hetero Drugs, through its biologics arm, will be producing "over" 100 million doses of Russian Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V starting 2021, said the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Friday.
The firm, through subsidiary Hetero Biopharma, is expected to produce these doses over the course of the year, according to RDIF. The vaccines produced here may also be used to fulfill demand from other countries. (Read more here)
India on Friday assured the people of Nepal that once it rolls out a vaccine against COVID-19, meeting their requirement will be a priority for New Delhi, amid a spike of the deadly disease in the Himalayan nation. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, addressing a lecture hosted by the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs (AIDIA), a Kathmandu-based non-partisan foreign policy think-tank, said that India is on the cusp of the availability of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus .
As the world's largest manufacturer of vaccines, India is at the forefront of this effort. We have at least five promising vaccine candidates at advanced stages of trials. I would like to assure the people of Nepal that once a vaccine is rolled out, meeting Nepal's requirement would be a priority for us, Shringla said. He said that the year 2020 has brought with it the additional challenge in the form of COVID-19 pandemic and this has been the most globally disruptive event since the second world war. (PTI)
The total coronavirus cases mounted to 93,09,787 and the death toll climbed to 1,35,715 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 492 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further declined to 1.45 per cent.
As of Friday, there are are 4,55,555 active Covid-19 cases in the country. This accounts for 4.89 per cent of India's total caseload. About 70 per cent of the total active cases are contributed by eight states/UTs depicted in the image below.
Developers of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine said on Thursday that AstraZeneca should try combining its experimental shot with the Russian one to boost efficacy. Russia said its Sputnik V vaccine is 92% effective at protecting people from COVID-19, according to interim trial results, while AstraZeneca said its COVID-19 vaccine was 70% effective in pivotal trials and could be up to 90% effective. “If they go for a new clinical trial, we suggest trying a regimen of combining the AZ shot with the #SputnikV human adenoviral vector shot to boost efficacy,” the developers of the Russian vaccine said on their Twitter account.
CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP and former Kolkata Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya tested positive for Covid-19 and is now in home isolation, PTI reported. According to a health department source, Bhattacharya tested positive on Thursday and opted for home isolation. His condition is stable currently.
Telangana reported 761 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to over 2.67 lakh while four fatalities pushed the toll to 1,448, the state government said on Friday. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 136, followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (69) and Rangareddy (55), it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on November 26. As many as10,839 patients are under treatment and 42,242 samples were tested on Thursday. Cumulatively, over 53.32 lakh samples have been tested. (PTI)
The Delhi High Court Thursday said it took pushing and prodding from the court to make the Delhi government ramp up RT-PCR Covid testing in the national capital, but it has come at the cost of people's lives. The court said it was for the Delhi government to take a call whether night curfew is required to be imposed in Delhi or some parts, or if some other measures need to be adopted.
The capital Thursday reported 91 new deaths, taking the toll to 8,811, and 5,475 cases, taking the total case count to 5,51,262.(Read more here)
India's Covid-19 tally crossed the 93 lakh mark after recording 43,082 new cases in the 24 hours ending 9 am Friday. As many as 492 new fatalities took the country's death toll to 1,35,715. Out of India's 93,09,788 total cases, over 4.55 infections are active, while over 87.18 lakh patients have recovered after testing positive.
The Uttar Pradesh state government has brought new guidelines to arrest the spike in Covid-19 cases.
Five Covid-19 patients were killed and six others suffered burn injuries after a fire broke out in the ICU of Uday Shivanand Covid Hospital in the Mavdi area of Gujarat's Rajkot early Friday morning. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has ordered a probe into the incident, ANI reported.(Read more here)
Jharkhand's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,08,388 as 230 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official said on Friday. Three more patients succumbed to the infection, pushing the state's coronavirus death toll to 961, he said. Ranchi district reported the highest number of new cases at 64, followed by East Singhbhum (32), Dhanbad (25) and Bokaro (20), he said.
The state now has 2,169 active coronavirus cases, while 1,05,258 people have been cured of the disease so far, the official said. Jharkhand has tested 17,598 samples for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, he added.(PTI)