Coronavirus News Updates: One UK returnee tests positive in Maharashtra's Thane; 355 new cases reported in district

Andhra Pradesh COVID-19 tally reaches 8.80 lakh with 282 new cases

Confirmed cases of coronavirus touched 8.80 lakh in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday as the state added 282 afresh to its count while the active caseload fell further to 3,700. The latest bulletin said 442 patients had recovered while only one death was reported in the state in 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday.

The total recoveries now increased to 8,69,920 and deaths to 7,092. Kurnool and Prakasam districts reported only one new case each, the lowest in about six months, while Srikakulam and Vizianagaram added four each.

One UK returnee tests coronavirus positive in Maharashtra’s Thane

One of the over 50 persons, who returned to the Kalyan Dombivli region in Maharashtra’s Thane district from the UK in the last one month, has tested COVID-19 positive, the authorities said on Saturday. As many as 55 people have returned to the areas under Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) limits from the UK from 25 November onwards, the civic body said.

“Swab testing of 20 of them was conducted and one person from Dombivli tested positive for the infection. That person has been isolated,” the KDMC said in a statement. The swab sample of that person has been sent to Pune for further analysis, it said.

According to officials, as many as 349 people have returned to Thane district from the UK in the last one month.

Will meet operating expenditure from earnings, says Rail Board Chairman

The Railways will meet its operating expenditure from its earnings despite the coronavirus pandemic, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said on Saturday, assessing a year that saw the national transporter scale down its passenger services to an unprecedented level to contain the spread of the virus. 

  Addressing a Year-ender press meet, Yadav said several expenditure-control measures and freight revenue earnings will help compensate for the losses in the passenger segment. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Railways’ passenger revenue has come down to just Rs 4,600 crore this year compared to Rs 53,000 crore last year, a slide of 87 percent.

Spain receives 1st batch of coronavirus vaccine

Spanish authorities say the first batch of the coronavirus vaccine to reach the country has arrived. The government said on Saturday morning that a truck transporting the vaccine produced by Pfizer arrived at a company warehouse in the central city of Guadalajara after making the trip from Belgium. It is the first part of what the government says will be weekly shipments of an average of 350,000 doses.

The first vaccines will be administered Sunday morning at a nursing home in Guadalajara. Spain plans to receive more than 4.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine over the next 12 weeks, enough it says to immunize just over 2.2 million people. It will represent the first phase of a national vaccination plan.

8 UK returnees to Kerala test positive; samples sent to NIV, Pune

Eight people who recently returned from the UK to Kerala, have tested positive for coronavirus and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for genomic analysis. Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Saturday that samples of eight returnees were found positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent to NIV for further tests.

Following this development, it has been decided to subject the returnees to more tests, she added. Surveillance at the four international airports in the state have been further strengthened.

COVID-19 had massive impact on Indian aviation sector in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the Indian aviation sector in 2020 and major airlines facing losses and challenging times laid off employees, sent them on leave without pay, or cut their salaries.

The government also had to extend the deadline for submitting bids for Air India five times during the year.

When the pandemic started spreading across the country, all scheduled international flights and domestic passenger flights were suspended from March 23 and March 25, respectively. Scheduled domestic flights were restarted in a limited manner from May 25.

Decline in India’s active COVID-19 cases due to rise in recoveries, lower daily cases: Govt

The exponential rise in COVID-19 recoveries in tandem with lower daily infections has resulted in a consistent decline in India’s active caseload, which presently stands at 2,81,667, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.

85.26% new COVID-19 deaths from 10 States, UTs: Centre

As many as 251 fatalities due to the novel coronavirus were reported in the country in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Of the total new deaths, ten States and Union Territories account for 85.26 percent. Maharashtra recorded the highest number of fatalities at 71, followed by 31 in West Bengal and 30 in Delhi.

10 states, UTs account for 73.56% of new COVID-19 recoveries: Centre

The Union health ministry on Saturday said that 73.56 percent of the new recovered COVID-19 cases were observed to be concentrated in 10 states and Union Territories.

Among these, Kerala reported the highest number of single-day recoveries at 4,506, followed by 1,954 in West Bengal and 1,427in Maharashtra.

“Kerala also reported the highest number of fresh cases at 5,397, followed by 3,431 in Maharashtra and 1,541 in West Bengal,” the ministry said.

Tokyo confirms record-high of 949 new coronavirus cases

Tokyo has confirmed 949 new cases of the coronavirus, a new high for the Japanese capital, as the country struggles with an upsurge that is spreading nationwide.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said on Saturday that the additional cases bring the prefectural total to 55,851. Japan had 3,823 new cases on Friday for a national total of 213,547, with 3,155 deaths, the health ministry said.

Ahmedabad municipal corporation starts online facility for vaccine registration

The civic body in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad city has launched an online facility for people from priority groups to register for the COVID-19 vaccine, an official said on Saturday.

According to the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, citizens from priority groups in the city who have not yet registered themselves with health workers carrying out house-to-house survey or at urban health centres (UHCs) can get themselves registered on www.ahmedabadcity.gov.in.

14 UK returnees test positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka

Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar on Saturday said 14 people who have come to the state from the UK so far have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent for genetic sequencing to find whether it is a new strain of virus that has infected them.

“A total of 2,500 people have come (from the UK), of them 1,638 have been tested. According to information I received last night, 14 of them have tested positive. All the 14 (samples) have been sent to NIMHANS for (genetic sequencing),” he said.

Eight UK returnees test COVID-19 positive in Kerala

Eight people who recently returned from the UK to Kerala, have tested positive for coronavirus and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune for genomic analysis.

Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Saturday that samples of eight returnees were found positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent to NIV for further tests.

Following this development, it has been decided to subject the returnees to more tests, she added.

Rajinikanth’s health progressing well, says hospital 

Actor Rajinikanth, who was admitted to the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad for severe blood pressure fluctuations, is progressing well, the hospital said on Saturday.
His blood pressure is still on the higher side although it is under better control than on Friday, it said in a release.

The 70-year old actor is scheduled for a further set of investigations on Saturday, reports of which would be available by the evening, it said.

Puducherry registers 33 new COVID-19 cases

Puducherry reported 33 new coronavirus cases while a 77-year man succumbed to the infection taking the toll to 630, a top health department official said on Saturday.

Of the 33 new cases, the Puducherry region reported 18, followed by Mahe (9), Karaikal (4) and Yanam (2), Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release.

The fresh infections were reported at the end of the examination of 3,391 samples, pushing the overall count to 37,947.

Thane’s COVID-19 tally rises by 355

With 355 new coronavirus positive cases, the infection tally in Maharashtra’s Thane district mounted to 2,41,142, an official said on Saturday. The toll in the district grew to 5,917 with seven latest fatalities, the official said.

India’s active COVID-19 cases drop to 2.77%

The active COVID-19 cases in India remained below three lakh for the fifth consecutive day. There are 2,81,667 active coronavirus infections in the country, constituting 2.77 percent of the total caseload.

India’s daily COVID-19 deaths below 300 after over 6 months

India’s daily new COVID-19 fatality count was reported below 300 after over six months, taking the toll to 1,47,343, while the infection tally rose to 1,01,69,118, according to the health ministry. 

A total of 251 more deaths and 22,273 new infections were reported in a 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Telangana adds 317 new coronavirus cases

Telangana reported 317 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to over 2.84 lakh while two fatalities pushed the death count to 1,529, the state government said on Saturday.

Over 2.76 lakh people have recovered from the disease so far.

As many as 6,618 patients are under treatment and 30,376 samples were tested on Friday. Cumulatively, over 66.86 lakh samples have been tested.

India’s COVID-19 recovery rate at 95.8%

The number of people who have recuperated from the novel coronavirus reached 97,40,108 with 22,274 new discharges in the past 24 hours, said the health ministry on Saturday.

With this, the national recovery rate stands at 95.8 percent. While the country’s COVID-19 toll is now at 1,47,092.

Dharavi reports no new case for first time since April

Dharavi, once a COVID-19 hotspot in Mumbai, did not report a single infection in the past 24 hours for the first time since April when the first patient was detected in the area, PTI reported on Friday.

The caseload of Dharavi now stands at 3,788, though the number of active cases is 12, eight of them in home isolation and four in a COVID care centre, PTI cited a civic official as saying.

India reports 22,272 new cases, 251 deaths

India recorded 22,272 new cases of COVID-19 and 251 deaths in a span of 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. With the fresh infections, country’s overall count has now climbed to 1,01,69,118.

Over 16.71 cr COVID-19 samples tested: ICMR

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), as many as 16,71,59,289 COVID-19 samples have been tested till 25 December, of which 8,53,527 samples were tested on Friday alone.

France confirms first case of new COVID-19 variant found in UK

France has confirmed the first case of a new coronavirus variant that recently emerged in Britain, its health ministry said.

The new strain of the virus, which experts fear is more contagious, has prompted more than 50 countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK.

The first French case – found in a citizen living in Britain who arrived from London on 19 December – is asymptomatic and self-isolating at home in Tours in central France, the ministry said late Friday.

Over 3,400 new cases in Maharashtra

Maharashtra reported 3,431 fresh coronavirus infections on Friday, taking the overall count to 19,13,382, a health department official said.

The toll rose to 49,129 with 71 new fatalities. With 1,427 patients discharged from hospitals during the day, the number of recovered patients increased to 18,06,298.

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 recovery rate is 94.4 percent, while the fatality rate is 2.57 percent, the official said.