COVID-19 HIGHLIGHTS | TN chief secretary directs district collectors to strictly enforce using mask in public places
Online Desk
India on Saturday added 41,322 new COVID-19 cases to its total tally and 485 deaths in last 24 hours as per the data shared by Union Health Ministry.
With this addition, the coronavirus tally in India has reached 93,51,110 while toll touched 1,36,200.
The total active cases in India stands at 4,54,940 as of Saturday after 41,452 people were discharged in last 24 hours taking total recoveries to 87,59,969.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a three-city visit to review coronavirus vaccine development work at facilities across India.
Haryana reports 1,967 new COVID-19 cases, 30 deaths
Total cases at 2,30,713
Total number of discharged patients:2,08,422
Total deaths: 2,375
Active cases: 19,916
Discharges today: 2,421
Oxford vaccine: Serum Institute to seek emergency use authorisation in 2 weeks
Adar Poonawalla, Founder and CEO of, SII said on Saturday that SII is in the process of submitting the data for the clinical trials to the DCGI and will seek emergency use authorisation.
He said there will be no delays in the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout as the trials are more than enough for establishing efficacy and it will not affect emergency use authorization in Europe and certainly not in India. There was a recent error in dosage during trials which AstraZeneca is trying to correct, as per reports. (READ FULL REPORT HERE)
TN chief secretary directs district collectors to strictly enforce using mask in public places, social distancing
Karnataka reports 1522 new cases, 12 deaths
Delhi reports 4,998 new COVID-19 cases, 89 deaths
Total cases: 5,61,742
Total recoveries: 5,16,166
Death toll: 8,998
Active cases: 36,578
Recoveries today: 6512
Maharashtra reports 5,965 new COVID-19 cases, 75 deaths
Total cases: 18,14,515
Total recoveries: 16,76,564
Active cases: 89,905
Death toll: 46,986
Recoveries today: 3,937
Rajasthan government slashes RT-PCR COVID-19 test by private labs, fixes it at Rs 800
The Rajasthan government on Saturday fixed the rate for COVID-19 RT-PCR tests by private labs in the state to Rs 800, slashing it by Rs 400. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the government ordered the lowering of the COVID test rates from Rs 1,200 to Rs 800 following a drop in test kits' prices.
Rajasthan tally
Rajasthan reports 2765 new COVID-19 cases, 2178 recoveries/discharges, and 19 deaths.
Total cases: 2,62,805
Total recoveries: 2,31,780
Active cases: 28,751
Death toll: 2,274
Tamil Nadu tally
Tamil Nadu on Saturday reported 1,430 fresh COVID-19 cases, 1,453 discharges, and 13 deaths.
Total cases: 7,79,046
Total discharges: 7,56,279
Death toll: 11,694
Active cases: 11,073
Kerala tally
Andhra Pradesh tally
Andhra Pradesh reports 625 new coronavirus cases, 1,186 recoveries, and five deaths.
Total cases: 8,67,063
Active cases: 11,571 T
otal recoveries: 8,48,511
Death toll: 6,981
WATCH | PM Modi reviews COVID-19 vaccine development at Zydus Cadila
Ex-Pfizer VP's falsely claims 'pandemic is effectively over'
After drugmaker Pfizer's former Vice President and Chief Scientist for Allergy and Respiratory Michael Yeadon claimed that "the pandemic is fundamentally over in the UK," health fact-checker Health Feedback termed his assertions "false". (READ MORE)
PM visits Bharat Biotech facility to review vaccine development
COVID-19 updates from across India
Puducherry logs 46 new COVID-19 cases, tally touches 36,902
Arunachal Pradesh: 27 new COVID-19 cases, tally rises to 16,231
Mizoram: 18 new COVID-19 cases in, tally rises to 3,806
Jharkhand: States adds 189 new COVID-19 cases
Manipur announces night curfew till December end
(Inputs from Union Health Ministry)
West Pakistani refugees undergo thermal screening as they arrive to cast their votes for the District Development Council elections, at a polling station in Akhnoor of Jammu district. (Photo | PTI)
PM Modi reviews vaccine development at Zydus Cadila facility
PM Modi on Saturday began his three-city visit to review coronavirus vaccine development work by going to pharma major Zydus Cadila's manufacturing facility near Ahmedabad
Wearing a PPE kit, Modi reviewed the vaccine development process at the Zydus Cadila research centre in Changodar industrial area, over 20 km from Ahmedabad
Modi spent over an hour at the plant, before leaving for the airport, from where will fly to Hyderabad
Zydus Cadila has announced that the phase-I clinical trial of its vaccine candidate ZyCoV-D is over and it has commenced phase-II clinical trials from August
PM Narendra Modi wearing PPE kit.
Hyderabad-based Hetero Drugs to produce 100 million Sputnik V vaccine doses per year
Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Hetero Drugs has reached an agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce over 100 million doses per year of the RDIF’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in India.
The agreement has been reached by Hetero Drugs through its biologics arm Hetero Biopharma.
The two parties intend to start the production of Sputnik V at the start of 2021. (READ ARTICLE HERE)
COVID-19 caseload in India climbs to over 93.5 lakh
India's COVID-19 tally of cases climbed to 93.51 lakh with 41,322 new infections being reported in a day, while 87,59,969 people have recovered so far pushing the national recovery rate to 93.68 per cent, according to the Union health ministry
The total coronavirus cases increased to 93,51,109 and the death toll climbed to 1,36,200 with the virus claiming 485 more lives, the data updated at 8 am showed
IN PICS | People exercise their rights amid pandemic!
Global update | China questions coronavirus origin to Wuhan ahead of WHO probe
Battling global adversity over the coronavirus and bracing for a WHO inquiry over its origin, China on Friday claimed that just because COVID-19 cases were first reported in Wuhan does not mean the contagion originated from the central Chinese city. (READ ARTICLE HERE)
PM Modi reaches Ahmedabad to review coronavirus vaccine development
Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed here on Saturday as part of his three-city visit to review coronavirus vaccine development work at facilities there, an official said. From the airport, Modi proceeded to pharma major Zydus Cadila's plant near Ahmedabad to get information about its vaccine development, the official said. (READ ARTICLE HERE)