Coronavirus in Odisha LIVE Updates | Odisha reports 377 new COVID-19 cases

Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,20,394 today as 377 more people tested positive for the infection, while five fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,760, a health department official said. Taking to Twitter, the Health and Family Welfare Department said, "Regret to inform the demise of five COVID positive patients while under treatment in hospitals." Odisha currently has 4,558 active cases, while 3,24,023 patients have recovered from the infection. (PTI)

Coronavirus vaccine LIVE Updates | UK hopes for millions of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses this year - minister

Britain hopes for millions of doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year but the final figure will depend on how quickly it can be manufactured, Britain's business minister Alok Sharma said on Friday.

"We are starting initially with 800,000 and then let's see where we end up by the end of the year in terms of the numbers that we acquire. That will depend on the manufacturing," Sharma said on Sky News.

"I hope we will have some millions by the end of this year but of course what we also always said is that the vast majority of this vaccination programme will take place in the new year."

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | COVID-19 vaccination drive will begin as soon as scientists give nod: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said India's vaccination programme against COVID-19 would begin as soon as a go-ahead from scientists is given, and asserted that healthcare workers involved in treating coronavirus patients, frontline workers and old people suffering from serious conditions would be inoculated on priority. In his closing remarks at an all-party meeting with leaders of various political parties to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country, Modi said experts believe the wait for the COVID-19 vaccine will not be long and it may be ready in a few weeks. (PTI)

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | In the progress of finding out treatment for COVID-19, a disease caused by novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, a study has shown an experimental oral antiviral drug completely suppressed coronavirus transmission within 24 hours. A team of researchers from the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University has claimed that the drug Molnupiravir, also known as MK-4482/EIDD-2801, prevents the virus from multiplying itself, therefore preventing it from spreading. For the study, published in the journal Nature Microbiology, the team led by Dr Richard Plemper, Distinguished University Professor at Georgia State, tested Molnupiravir's ability to stop novel coronavirus spread in ferrets.

Read more | Experimental oral antiviral drug Molnupiravir blocks COVID-19 transmission within 24 hours: Study

Coronavirus in Puducherry LIVE Updates | Puducherry adds 46 fresh COVID-19 cases

Puducherry registered 46 new coronavirus cases while one fatality pushed the death toll to 614 in the union territory, a top Health department official said today. The Health Department Director said 62 patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours. Of the total 37,165 COVID-19 cases, 427 were active, he said, adding, 36,124 patients had recovered and discharged so far. (PTI) 

Coronavirus Vaccine LIVE Updates | Drug firm Zydus Cadila said it has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) to start phase 3 clinical trials with its biological therapy PegiHep in COVID-19 patients. The company had completed phase 2 clinical trials with PegiHep last month. In a regulatory filing, Zydus Cadila said it has received approval from the DCGI to start the phase 3 clinical trials in COVID-19 patients with its biological therapy Pegylated Interferon alpha-2b or PegiHep.

Read more | COVID-19: Zydus Cadila gets DGCI nod for phase 3 clinical trials with biological therapy

Coronavirus in Mizoram LIVE Updates | Seven more people, including two children, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, taking the state's tally to 3,888, according to a health department official. Sixty-three people were discharged from various COVID care centres yesterday, taking the total number of recoveries in the state to 3,647. The recovery rate among coronavirus patients in the state currently stands at 93.81 percent. Mizoram now has 235 active cases, the official said. (PTI)

Coronavirus in Maharashtra LIVE Updates | Thane reports 591 new COVID-19 cases

With the addition of 591 new coronavirus positive cases, the overall infection tally in Thane district of Maharashtra mounted to 2,30,722, reported news agency PTI citing an official. These new cases were added yesterday, he said. As the virus claimed the lives of seven patients during the day, the death toll in the district went up to 5,709, the official said. The district's recovery rate has reached 94.34 percent and the mortality rate 2.47 percent. The number of active cases in the district is 7,358 at present.

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hoped that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will clarify at the all-party meeting by when will every Indian get free COVID-19 vaccine. His remark came ahead of the all-party meeting convened by the government to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country, the vaccine challenges and the way forward.

Read more | By when will every Indian get free COVID vaccine, Rahul Gandhi asks PM Modi

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | As many as 36,595 new cases of novel coronavirus were reported, with India’s total COVID-19 cases above 95 lakh, as per health ministry’s December 4 update. India reported 540 new deaths (above 500-mark for the third day in a row) and 42,916 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the latest release show. After seeing a rise, active cases now continue to drop for the seventh day, to 4,16,082 with a fall of 6,861 cases in a day. Kerala reported the most (5,376) new cases in the last 24 hours, followed by Maharashtra (5,182), Delhi (3,734), West Bengal (3,246) and Rajasthan (2,086). These top five states account for more than half (54 percent) of all the new cases in India. 

Read more | COVID-19 cases explained in charts

Coronavirus in India LIVE Updates | COVID-19 tracker

#CoronaVirusUpdates:

📍Total #COVID19 Cases in India (as on December 04, 2020)

▶️94.20% Cured/Discharged/Migrated (90,16,289)
▶️4.35% Active cases (4,16,082)
▶️1.45% Deaths (1,39,188)

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases = Cured/Discharged/Migrated+Active cases+Deaths #StaySafe pic.twitter.com/Xb5dDOHgaQ

— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) December 4, 2020