The Centre is gearing up for the roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine across the country, with four States all set to initiate a dry-run for vaccine administration next week, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, and Punjab have been selected considering the geographical locations, a Ministry release said.
A single-day rise of 22,273 new COVID-19 cases and 251 fatalities pushed India's virus caseload to 1,01,69,118 and death toll to 1,47,343, according to government data updated today.
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:
8 U.K. 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 K.K. Shailaja said 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.
Sri Lanka postpones airspace reopening for commercial flights
Sri Lanka has postponed the reopening of its airspace for commercial flights, scheduled for Saturday, to prevent the spread of a new variant of the coronavirus, officials said.
The next date for resumption of flights will be announced later.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) had announced last week that it will resume international flights operations from December 26, eight months after they were closed in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.
150 soldiers for R-Day Day parade test positive
Around 150 Army soldiers who travelled to Delhi to take part in Republic Day and Army Day parades have tested positive for COVID-19 , according to an Army source.
“The soldiers who arrived to participate in various parades were tested before putting them into a safe bubble. So
India's daily COVID-19 fatality count below 300 after over 6 months
India''s daily new COVID-19 fatality count was reported below 300 after over six months, taking the death toll to 1,47,343, while the infection tally rose to 1,01,69,118, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.
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.
Gingee DMK MLA booked for flouting COVID-19 rules
The Marakkanam police have booked a case against Gingee DMK MLA K.S. Masthan and others for flouting COVID-19 norms at a 'Makkal Gram Sabha' meeting held by the party at Marakkanam in Villupuram district on Friday.
DMK president M.K. Stalin had addressed the meeting.
8 U.K.-returned people test COVID positive during Delhi govt. door-to-door drive
In the ongoing door-to-door contact drive being conducted by the Delhi government to test U.K.-returned persons for prevalence of COVID-19, eight have so far been found infected with the coronavirus, officials said on Friday. A total of 19 passengers out of over 13,000 who landed from the U.K. at the IGI airport between November 25 and December 21 have been found positive for the virus. Eleven were tested positive at the airport while eight others were found positive during the door to door contact and testing drive being carried out in all the districts of the city, said a top Delhi government source.
"All the 19 positive patients have been admitted to the special facility set up at LNJP hospital where they will undergo genome testing to determine whether they are infected by the super spreader strain of the coronavirus that has been reported in United Kingdom," the source said.
1,148 persons arrived in A.P. from U.K. in one month, four test positive
The Health Department stated in a press release on Friday that the total number of persons who returned from the United Kingdom in the last one month stands at 1,148, of whom 1,040 have been traced. Of those yet to be found, 18 persons are from other States and 16 have invalid addresses. A total of 982 persons were placed in quarantine.
Four persons were found positive among them and their fresh samples were sent to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and the National Institute of Virology at Pune to ascertain whether the infection is due to the new strain of coronavirus. The results of these tests will be known in three days.
Dry run for COVID-19 vaccine rollout in 4 States next week: Govt.
The Centre is gearing up for the roll out of COVID-19 vaccine across the country, with four States all set to initiate a dry-run for vaccine administration next week, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday.
“Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, and Punjab have been selected considering the geographical locations. Each State will plan it in two districts and preferably in different (five) session type settings e.g. district hospital, CHC/PHC, urban site, private health facility, rural outreach etc,” a Ministry release said.
(With inputs from agencies)
Published - December 26, 2020 09:37 am IST
