Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: India records 14,545 new cases; recovery rate at 96.78%

Coronavirus Live updates: Tamil Nadu health minister takes Covaxin shot, says doing it as a doctor to instill confidence

As the apprehensions around Bharat Biotech's Covaxin continues to create fear, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar, who is also a medical practitioner and an IMA member,takes Covaxin shot in Chennai, says, doing this to 'instill confidence'. Later he took to Twitter to say, 'I am doing this as a doctor and member of IMA, to instill confidence among Health Care Workers. I request all to get vaccinated and safeguard themselves from #COVID19.'

Coronavirus Live updates: 2 health care workers admitted to hospital after receiving COVID-19 vaccine

Two health care workers were admitted to hospital as they reported Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) after receiving jab of COVID-19 vaccine in Odisha, official sources said. The condition of both the health care workers in Jagatsinghpur and Bargarh district was stated to be stable, they said on Thursday.

A 45-year-old female ASHA worker of Jagatsinghpur district was administered COVID-19 vaccine on January 19, following which she developed a headache and fainting attack on the very day. She was then admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital, where her condition was stated to be stable, an official said.

A 27-year-old female staff nurse of Bargarh district received COVID-19 vaccine shot on January 16. She developed fever on the same day and was admitted to hospital in Bargarh for observation. Her condition is currently stable, the official said.

Coronavirus Live updates: Jharkhand reports 67 new COVID-19 cases, 1 death

Jharkhand's COVID-19 tally mounted to 1,18,079 as 67 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official said on Friday. The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 1,058 as one more person succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said. Ranchi district reported the highest number of new cases at 35, followed by five cases each in East Singhbhum and Bokaro, the official said.

Jharkhand now has 1,032 active cases, while 1,15,989 people have recovered from the disease so far, he said. The state has tested 10,657 samples for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the official said. 

Coronavirus Live updates: India records 14,545 new cases; recovery rate at 96.78%

India's COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,06,25,428 with 14,545 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, while the recoveries have surged to 1,02,83,708, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll increased to 1,53,032with 163 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,02,83,708 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate of 96.78 percent, while the COVID-19case fatality rate stands at 1.44 percent.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 2 lakh for the third consecutive day. There are 1,88,688 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.78 percent of the total caseload, the data stated. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7,30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and50 lakh onSeptember 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28,70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29,90 lakh onNovember 20 and surpassed theone-crore mark on December 19. According to the ICMR, 19,01,48,024 samples have been tested up toJanuary 21 with 8,00,242 samples being tested on Thursday.

Coronavirus Live updates: Thane district records 286 new COVID-19 cases, 7 deaths

With the addition of 286 new coronavirus cases, the infection count in Thane district of Maharashtra rose to 2,50,693, an official said on Friday. The virus claimed the lives of seven more persons, pushing the death toll in the district to 6,074,, he said. The COVID-19 mortality rate stood at 2.42 per cent, he added.

So far, 2,40,879 patients have recuperated from the infection, showing a recovery rate of 96.08 per cent, the official said. There are 3,740 active cases in the district at present, the official said. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 tally stood at 44,937 and the death toll at 1,196, another official said.

Coronavirus Live updates: Joe Biden launches '100 days mask challenge'; makes COVID-19 test, quarantine mandatory for people entering US

US President Joe Biden has signed a series of executive orders to address COVID-19 challenges, including making coronavirus test followed by quarantine mandatory for all travellers coming from overseas. In addition to wearing masks, everyone flying to the United States from another country will need to test before they get on that plane, before they depart, and quarantine when they arrive in America, Biden said at a White House event wherein he signed the orders.

Our national plan launches a full-scale wartime effort to address the supply shortages by ramping up production and protective equipment, syringes, needles, you name it. And when I say wartime, people look at me like wartime? Well, as I said last night, 4,00,000 Americans have died. That's more than World War II... this is a wartime undertaking, he said. The death toll will likely top 5,00,000 next month, he said, adding that the cases will continue to mount.

Coronavirus Live updates: India sends COVID vaccines to Nepal, Bangladesh; commercial shipment to Brazil, Morocco likely on Friday

India on Thursday delivered two million doses of Covishield vaccine to Bangladesh and one million doses to Nepal under grants assistance, while commercial supply is expected to start on Friday with shipments to Brazil and Morocco. It is learnt that two million doses each will be sent as commercial supplies to Brazil and Morocco, while a consignment of 1.5 million doses of Covishield will be delivered to Myanmar, 50,000 doses to Seychelles and another shipment of 1,00,000 doses is slated to arrive in Mauritius on Friday as part of India''s grant assistance.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka tweeted that a "gift of 2 million" made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine was handed over to Bangladesh Foreign Minister AKA Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque by Indian envoy Vikram Doraiswami. The Indian embassy in Kathmandu said a total of one million doses of vaccines was handed over to Nepal in reflection of India''s abiding friendship and commitment towards people of the country.

On Wednesday, India sent 1,50,000 doses of Covishield vaccines to Bhutan and 1,00,000 doses to the Maldives. In a major announcement, India on Tuesday said it will send COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from Wednesday. Supplies to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius will commence after confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances, it said.

Coronavirus Live updates: 3,091 more beneficiaries get COVID vaccine jabs in Assam

Altogether 3,091 beneficiaries received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Assam on Thursday, taking the total number of inoculated people in the state to 10,676, the National Health Mission (NHM) said here. Two minor cases of Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) were reported during the day in Lakhimpur and Barpeta districts. Assam also reported 21 new COVID-19 positive cases on Thursday, taking the tally to 2,16,940, the NHM said in a bulletin.

The death toll due to the disease remained unchanged at 1,077 while 1,347 corona positive patients have died of other reasons. The new cases were detected out of 16,982 tests with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent. The state has so far conducted 63,31,27 tests for COVID-19. The number of active cases in the state is currently 1,218, while three others have migrated out of the state. The bulletin said that 116 patients have recovered from the disease during the day, taking the total number of cured people to 2,13,295.

Coronavirus Live updates: Japan to start coronavirus vaccinations with Pfizer vaccines

Japan's vaccine programme chief Taro Kono said on Friday the country would begin coronavirus vaccinations with Pfizer's vaccine, and aimed to start vaccinations as early as late February with 10,000 medical workers at 100 hospitals. Kono told reporters the next priority after medical workers was to vaccinate the elderly, those with health conditions and elderly care facility workers.

Coronavirus Live updates: Brazil says will receive two million AstraZeneca doses today from India

Brazil's Health Ministry said 2 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine should arrive on Friday from India, confirming a Reuters report earlier in the day saying the Asian country would begin the shipments. The announcement comes amid delays in receiving the vaccine from India, the latest in a series of miscues surrounding the country's inoculations drive which have embarrassed the government of President Jair Bolsonaro.

Coronavirus Live updates: India to deliver Covishield to Myanmar, Seychelles, Mauritius today

The Serum Institute of India's (SII) consignment of COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' to be dispatched to Myanmar, Seychelles and Mauritius has arrived at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in the early hours of Friday. The flight for Myanmar is scheduled to take off at 6:40 am from Mumbai while the vaccine consignment for Mauritius and Seychelles will be sent via one flight expected to depart at 11 am.

According to sources, a consignment containing 1.5 million doses of Covishield vaccine will reach Yangon, Myanmar on January 22. A consignment of 50,000 doses of Covishield vaccine is scheduled to reach Seychelles as part of India's vaccine donation program. Seychelles is only among the four Indian Ocean countries to receive the Covishield vaccine, manufactured by the SII.

"The donation of the vaccines under the VaccineMaitri demonstrates India's role as a reliable partner of Seychelles and net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. This is also reflective of India's special relations with Seychelles and the central place enjoyed by Seychelles in Prime Minister Modi's vision of SAGAR: "Security and Growth for All in the Region"," the source said.

Coronavirus Live updates: US vaccine shortages force cancellations, postponements

Some COVID-19 vaccination sites in New York City have begun cancelling or postponing shots or stopped making new appointments amid vaccine shortages around the US that President Joe Biden has vowed to turn around. Smaller-than-expected deliveries from the federal government have caused frustration and confusion and limited states' ability to attack the outbreak that has killed over 4,00,000 Americans.

Over the past few days, authorities in California, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Hawaii warned that their supplies were running out. Vaccinations in New York haven't stopped, but demand for the shots now far exceeds the number of doses available, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “It's just tremendously sad that we have so many people who want the vaccine and so much ability to give the vaccine, what's happening?" he said.