Despite growing vaccine access, January is looking grim around the globe as the coronavirus resurges and reshapes itself. So far, India has confirmed 71 cases of the U.K. strain among travellers through genome sequencing analysis, a Health Ministry update said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, U.K. daily coronavirus cases top 60,000 for first time since the pandemic began. England and Scotland have gone into lockdown and schools have been shut, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned Republic Day visit to India.
You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.
Here are live updates:
COVID-19 vaccine dry run in TN from Jan 8
A dry run for the COVID-19 vaccine will be held in all districts on January 8, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said on Wednesday.
A dry run has already been held at 17 sites in five districts on January 2. “We need to check the design of the waiting room, vaccination room and observation room, the entry points, availability of space and time taken to cover 100 persons a day. All these aspects will be rehearsed during the dry run,” the Health Secretary told reporters, following an inspection at the Government Medical Stores Depot of the Union Health Ministry at Periamet.
Gujarat to open schools
The Gujarat government has decided to reopen schools for class 10 and 12 students and colleges for final year students from January 11 in the State.
The decision was taken in the state’s cabinet meeting held Wednesday.
However, attendance will be voluntary while online classes will continue till the year end. - Mahesh Langa
71 cases of U.K. strain in India
India has so far confirmed 71 cases of the U.K. strain among travellers through genome sequencing analysis, a Health Ministry update said on Wednesday.
In the past 24 hours, there were 18,000 fresh infections and 294 deaths. Kerala recorded the highest number of fresh cases at 5,495 while Maharashtra saw around 3,100 cases. - Jacob Koshy
COVID-19 vaccine mock drill in 21 Chhattisgarh districts on January 7, 8
A dry run to assess the readiness for the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be held in 21 districts of Chhattisgarh over the next two days, a senior state health official said on Wednesday.
Last week, a similar mock drill was held in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur and six other districts out of the total 28 districts in the State.
Now, it will be held in the remaining 21 districts for the assessment of preparation for the imminent coronavirus vaccination drive, mission director for National Health Mission in Chhattisgarh, Priyanka Shukla, told PTI.
India adds 18,088 new cases
India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,03,74,932 with 18,088 infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries are nearing one crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll increased to 1,50,114 with 264 people succumbing to the disease in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 99,97,272 pushing the national recovery rate to 96.36%, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45%. The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 3 lakh for the 16th consecutive day. - PTI
Confusion over missing U.K. returnees persists in Karnataka
Agencies are still fumbling over the exact number of people that have to be traced among those who travelled from the United Kingdom to Bengaluru after the new strain of Sars-CoV-2 was discovered.
While Health Minister K. Sudhakar had pegged the number at 75 on Monday, Rajendra Cholan, Special Commissioner (Health), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, said on Tuesday that 114 people remained untraceable.
“A few passengers on an Air India flight were left out and the Intelligence Bureau sent a new list with those names three days ago. Including those on the new list, when we did an on-ground verification, we did not find 114 of them at the addresses mentioned. We have been unable to contact them through their phones or through WhatsApp calls either, as many of them have given their U.K. numbers,” said Mr. Cholan.
Former Karnataka CM’s wife succumbs to COVID-19
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka R. Gundu Rao’s wife Varalakshimi Gundu Rao passed away late on Tuesday night.
Her son Dinesh Gundu Rao is a senior Congress leader and a member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
According to a social media post by her daughter-in-law Tabu Gundu Rao, she was suffering from COVID-19 and succumbed to it.
Singapore COVID-19 contact-tracing data accessible to police
Singapore said on Monday its police will be able to use data obtained by its coronavirus contact-tracing technology for criminal investigations, a decision likely to increase privacy concerns around the system.
This photo illustration shows a mobile phone user displaying the TraceTogether application, used to aid contact tracing efforts relating to the ongoing coronavirus situation, in Singapore | Photo Credit: AFP
The technology, deployed as both a phone app and a physical device, is being used by nearly 80% of the 5.7 million population, authorities said after announcing its use would become compulsory in places like shopping malls.
Asked about the TraceTogether privacy statement by an opposition MP, Mr. Tan said: “We do not preclude the use of TraceTogether data in circumstances where citizens’ safety and security is or has been affected, and this applies to all other data as well."
U.K. daily coronavirus cases top 60,000 for first time
The number of new daily confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.K. has topped 60,000 for the first time since the pandemic started, according to official figures on Tuesday.
The number of people who have tested positive in the country has reached 60,916, it said as a new variant of the coronavirus was pushing up U.K. infection rates.
England and Scotland have announced new lockdowns, with people told to stay at home.
On Monday night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said people in England must stay indoors other than for limited exceptions — such as food shopping, exercise or work that cannot be done at home. - PTI
COVID vaccination voluntary, antibodies develop 2 weeks after second dose: AIIMS Director
Getting immunised against COVID-19 will be a voluntary exercise and it is important that both dozes of the vaccine be administered to an individual for developing better immune response against the disease, AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria has said.
Protective levels of antibodies generally develop two weeks after receiving the second dose, he said.
The senior pulmonologist also stressed that the vaccine introduced in India will be as effective as any vaccine developed by other countries. - PTI
All Indian vaccines being developed for storage at 2-8 degree Celsius: DBT Secy
All Indian vaccines being developed against the coronavirus can be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius as the logistics have been worked out considering temperature as a factor, Department of Biotechnology Secretary Renu Swarup said on Tuesday. Ms. Swarup said Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin and Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield have robustly undergone immunoassay lab tests.
"(For) all our vaccines, we are looking at right now…..(we) are targeting 2-8 degree because our logistics are worked out on that basis and we are working on that," Ms. Swarup said at a press briefing.
She said the DNA vaccine candidate being developed by Zydus Cadila, and the Biological E's mRNA vaccine work at storage temperatures of 2-8 degrees Celsius.
"Unlike the Pfizer and Moderna which requires a minus 70 degree Celsius (cold) chain, this (the Biological E's vaccine candidate) is basically at the 2-8 degree Celsius," Ms. Swarup said. - PTI