Coronavirus Cases in India: The recovery rate is 96.19 per cent.
India added 16,504 coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, placing its overall number at 1.03 crore cases, the Health Ministry's data showed. The number of fresh infections is 9 per cent lower than on Sunday. In this period, India reported 214 deaths linked to the virus, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,49,649.
Meanwhile, India's drugs regulator on Sunday approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.
The approval by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) was given on the basis of recommendations submitted by a COVID-19 subject expert committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
"After adequate examination, CDSCO has decided to accept the recommendations of the Expert Committee and accordingly, vaccines of M/s Serum and M/s Bharat Biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situation," DCGI Dr VG Somani said.
Here are the LIVE updates on Coronavirus Cases:
Team India, support staff negative in latest COVID-19 tests: BCCI
The Indian cricket team and its support staff have returned negative in the latest COVID-19 tests conducted here ahead of the third Test against Australia in Sydney, the BCCI said on Monday.
The game is due to start on January 7 and The Indian team landed in Sydney on Monday as scheduled.
"Playing members of the Indian Cricket Team and support staff underwent an RT-PCR Test for COVID-19 on January 3, 2021. All tests have returned negative results," the BCCI said in a short statement.
The statement came a couple of days after five Indian players -- vice-captain Rohit Sharma, opener Shubman Gill, stumper Rishabh Pant, pacer Navdeep Saini and batsman Prithvi Shaw -- were placed in isolation when a video of them at an indoor restaurant was posted by a fan on Twitter.
Colleges in Kerala re-open today after over nine months following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic
"We are looking forward to the normal functioning of the college," says a student.
Telangana clocks 238 new COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths take number to 1,551
Telangana recorded 238 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total positives to over 2.87 lakh while two fatalities pushed the toll to 1,551, the state government said on Monday.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 60, followed by Rangareddy and Warangal Urban with 26 and 20 respectively, it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on January 3.
The total number of cases stood at 2,87,740 while recoveries were at 2,81,083. As many as 5,106 patients are under treatment and 27,077 samples were tested on Sunday.
Cumulatively, over 70 lakh samples have been tested.
The samples tested per million population was over 1.88 lakh, the bulletin said.
The case fatality rate in the state was 0.53 per cent, while it was 1.4 per cent at the national level.
379 new COVID-19 cases in Thane, 5 more deaths
Thane has recorded 379 new cases of coronavirus, raising the infection tally in the Maharashtra district to 2,44,250, an official said on Monday.
Apart from these new cases reported on Sunday, five people also succumbed to COVID-19, taking the toll in the district to 5,979, he said.
The COVID-19 mortality rate in the district stands at 2.45 per cent, the official said.
Till now, 2,34,398 patients have recovered from the viral infection, taking the recovery rate in the district to 95.97 per cent, he said.
As of now, there are 3,873 active COVID-19 cases in the district, he added.
Assam reports 15 new COVID-19 cases, one fresh death
Assam's COVID-19 tally rose to 2,16,304 as 15 more people tested positive for the virus, while one more fatality pushed the death toll to 1,052, the National Health Mission said in a bulletin.
The overall positivity rate stood at 3.58 per cent against total testing of 60,47,033 samples so far.
The state reported 60 single-day recoveries, taking the total count to 2,12,129, NHM said late on Sunday.
Assam currently has a total of 3,120 active COVID-19 cases and they are being treated at different hospitals and Covid Care Centres (CCCs) across the state along with some being at home isolation.
Three COVID-19 patients have migrated to other states.
The bulletin said 1,347 more COVID-19 patients have died, but the state government's Death Audit Board has not included them in the tally of fatalities caused by the virus, as they had other ailments, too.
JustIn| 16,504 fresh COVID-19 cases in India, 9% lower than yesterday; 1.03 crore total cases, 1.49 lakh deaths
Brazil private clinics seek deal for Indian Covid vaccineA Brazilian association of private health clinics said Sunday it was negotiating with Indian pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech to buy five million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, which India has just authorized for emergency use.
The Brazilian Association of Vaccine Clinics (ABCVAC) confirmed on its website it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indian firm to purchase its Covaxin vaccine, which is currently in the final stage of clinical trials.
Any final deal would be subject to approval by Brazil's health regulator, Anvisa, which has yet to approve any vaccines against the new coronavirus.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's government faces mounting criticism of dragging its feet on a vaccination campaign in Brazil, which has the second-highest death toll in the pandemic, after the United States.
Zydus Cadila gets DCGI nod for Phase-3 clinical trials for Covid-19 vaccine
The drug regulatory body Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved Ahmedabad based drug firm Zydus Cadila to initiate Phase III clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D.
"The Nation's first indigenously developed DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, by M/s Zydus Cadila has been approved by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for the conduct of the Phase III clinical trials," Ministry of Science and Technology said in a release on Sunday.
The Ministry said that Zydus Cadila completed Phase-I/II clinical trials of this DNA Vaccine candidate, in India, in more than 1,000 participants and interim data indicated that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic when three doses were administered intradermally.
"Based on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee, which reviewed the interim data, the DCGI has accorded permission for conducting Phase-III clinical trial in 26,000 Indian participants," the Ministry said.
No Covid Safety, 65 Arrested For Partying At Hookah Bars In DelhiSixty-five people have been arrested from two illegal hookah bars in Delhi's Rohini after police raids. Coronavirus norms were also being violated at the bars, police said, saying social distancing was not followed at either establishment.
26 people, including four staff members, were arrested from Uptown Cafe in Rohini's Sector 9 on January 1. Ten hookahs have also been seized by the police in the raids.
35 people, including 10 women and three minors were arrested from Sector 8's Mud House restaurant in January 2. Six staff members were also arrested in the raid and 12 hookahs were confiscated as well. Three owners of the hookah bar have also been arrested in the raid.
