5.15 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the government is “aggressively tackling” the Covid-19 situation in the Capital, reports PTI. “The positivity rate recorded yesterday [Tuesday] stood at 1.9%,” he adds. “I think it is the lowest figure till date, though I will need to look into data to tell exactly. But, for sure, it is the lowest positivity rate since May. This indicates an improved Covid-19 situation in Delhi.”

5.13 pm: Sandeep Rai, the principle investigator of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin trials at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, tells ANI that India should be prepared for adverse events during vaccination against Covid-19. “Adverse events can take place after any immunisation,” he says. “Adverse events can take place in this case too. We should be prepared beforehand.”

2.58 pm: Germany records 952 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, on the first day of a new partial lockdown to try and curb a surge in infections, reports Reuters.

2.40 pm: Tamil Nadu government grants permission to hold public and political meetings, religious gatherings, sports and cultural events with a maximum of 50% capacity in open places from December 19, reports The News Minute.

2.36 pm: Odisha reports 407 new coronavirus cases, pushing the tally in the state to 3,24,796 as of Tuesday, reports ANI. The toll rises by five to 1,820. There are 3,073 active cases and 3,19,850 recoveries.

12.45 pm: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says “flattening the curve” was not enough for her country, reports AP. “I remember my chief science adviser bringing me a graph that showed me what flattening the curve would look like for New Zealand. And where our hospital and health capacity was,” she says. “And the curve wasn’t sitting under that line. So we knew that flattening the curve wasn’t sufficient for us.”

11.19 am: The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras registers eight more cases, NDTV reports. The Tamil Nadu government orders testing at all colleges and universities.

11.13 am: A study published in the journal Physics of Fluids shows that walking fast behind a group of people in narrow spaces can significantly increase transmission risk of the coronavirus, especially in children.

11.08 am: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the magnitude of the coronavirus outbreak in the Capital has reduced, ANI reports. “I can’t say that the third wave of Covid-19 is over,” he adds.

Jain says that Delhi’s positivity rate on Tuesday was below 2%, for the first time since May. “I would still appeal to the people to wear masks,” he adds.

11.07 am: Uttarakhand Health Secretary Amit Negi tests positive for the coronavirus, ANI reports.

11.02 am: McEnany adds that the beginning of vaccination in the US is a medical miracle, PTI reports. “The first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were administered to frontline workers across the country,” she says. “The president promised a safe and effective vaccine in record time, and President [Donald] Trump delivered.”

10.58 am: White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany says President Donald Trump is “absolutely open” to taking the coronavirus vaccine, but would wait for his medical team’s go-ahead, NBC reports.

10.17 am: The US Food and Drug Administration says Moderna’s vaccine is safe and effective, Reuters reports. The vaccine seems ready for regulatory authorisation.

10.14 am: NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul says the Drugs Controller General of India has allowed phase 1 and 2 trials of Pune-based Gennova Pharmaceuticals’ vaccine candidate, Hindustan Times reports.

10.08 am: First Lady of the United States Melania Trump violated mask policy at a children’s hospital when she took off her mask to read a book to the children, CNN reports.

9.52 am: Telangana reports 536 new cases on Wednesday, according to ANI. The state’s tally rises to 2,79,135. The toll rises to 1,502 with three more deaths.

9.45 am: India has tested over 15.66 crore samples so far, an update from the Indian Council of Medical Research shows.

9.40 am: Here is a chart showing the five states that account for 56% of India’s active cases.

9.30 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 99,32,547 on Wednesday as it registers 26,382 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll rises by 387 to 1,44,096. India’s active cases stand at 3,32,002, while the recoveries reach 94,56,449. Wednesday’s new cases are 19.56% higher than the previous day.

Here are the top updates from Tuesday: