India coronavirus cases: India is the second most affected country in the world due to Covid
New Delhi:
Coronavirus cases in India are steadily on the rise with 41,810 new infections in the last 24 hours taking the tally to 93,92,919. There were 496 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours and the number of active cases went down by 984. There are 4,53,956 active cases in the country. Over 42,000 people recovered from the deadly disease in the last 24 hours taking the total recoveries to over 88 lakhs. The total deaths in the country stand at 1,36,696.
Here is your 10-point cheat sheet to this big story:
-
Kerala reported the highest number of cases among all states in the last 24 hours with 6,250 infections. The most affected state remains Maharashtra with over 18 lakh infections. The state recorded over 5,900 cases in the last 24 hours.
-
Serum Institute of India will apply within two weeks for an emergency use license of the coronavirus vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and pharma giant AstraZeneca, the vaccine maker’s chief Adar Poonawalla said on Saturday. Mr Poonawalla said he has discussed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the road ahead to vaccinate India against COVID-19 when the vaccine is out.
-
PM Modi on Saturday visited India’s top vaccine hubs to personally review the development of coronavirus vaccine and the manufacturing process. The visit, PM Modi’s office said, was meant to help him get a “first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s endeavour to vaccinate its citizens”.
-
Earlier this week, Serum Institute of India said it will sell the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine to the government for Rs 250 and to pharmacies for Rs 1,000 per dose. A minimum of 100 million doses will be available by January and hundreds of million could be ready by the end of February, Mr Poonawalla had told NDTV.
-
After a rise in Covid-19 cases in Dehradun, the Uttarakhand Police on Saturday announced that a coronavirus test is mandatory for entering Uttarakhand. The state said they would monitor details of the movement of people from other states to Uttarakhand.
-
The other top affected states in the country are Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.
-
Delhi has seen a rise in daily cases for the past few weeks after the festival season and spike in pollution. The capital recorded nearly 5,000 cases in the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 5.61 lakhs.
-
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said more than 50 percent of the beds reserved for coronavirus patients in Delhi are unoccupied. “More than 1,200 ICU beds and around 9,500 normal ones are unoccupied at present. Overall, more than 50 percent beds are available. So, we are in a slightly better situation,” he told reporters.
-
Russia’s coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, will also be produced in India. One of the developers of the vaccine has announced that India-based drugmaker Hetero will produce over 100 million doses of the shot. Apart from India, Sputnik V will also be produced in Brazil, China, and South Korea.
-
India is the second most affected country in the world due to the deadly coronavirus after the United States. The US on Saturday topped 13 million Covid-19 cases. India is followed by Brazil, Russia and France.
