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Coronavirus India Update: Total Active Cases Continue To Inch Lower, Near 4 Lakh Mark

Track all news and updates around the Covid-19 outbreak in India here.

A doctor puts a swab in a vial while conducting Covid-19 RT-PCR test in New Delhi, India. (Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg)
A doctor puts a swab in a vial while conducting Covid-19 RT-PCR test in New Delhi, India. (Photographer: T. Narayan/Bloomberg)
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Total Cases Cross 96 Lakh, Recoveries Outpace New Cases

India’s coronavirus tally continued to climb at a gradual pace as the country works to quash new outbreaks and ready itself for a vaccine rollout.

India reported over 36,652 new cases in 24 hours, taking the total tally over 96 lakh in the world’s second-worst infected country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Dec. 5. That includes over 40.9 lakh recoveries and more than 1.3 lakh deaths.

Key Figures

  • Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 96,08,211

  • Active cases: 4,09,689

  • Cured/discharged/migrated: 90,58,822

  • Deaths: 1,39,700

  • Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 36,652

  • One-day recoveries: 42,533

  • One-day deaths: 512

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said India's vaccination drive would begin as soon as scientists gave a go-ahead. He asserted that frontline health and essential workers, along with older population suffering from serious ailments would be prioritised for a vaccine shot.

Nearly eight vaccines are at different stages of trial with their manufacturing assured in India, Modi said at an all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the pandemic situation. Three vaccines from India are also at different stages of trial, he said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Biotechnology said it is important to have a large basket of Covid-19 vaccine candidates as it is very difficult to ascertain which one would work the best. Different vaccines are developed on different platforms, each with its own benefits and challenges, DBT secretary Renu Swarup said.

Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court pulled up authorities of Centre and states saying that Covid-19 guidelines of wearing a mask and keeping physical distance were being flouted by the public. The top court questioned as to why large gatherings, including political ones, were being allowed during a pandemic.

Global Update

Globally, cases crossed 65 million with over 1.5 million dead, as of Friday night.

Nations across Europe are pushing ahead with fast-track Covid-19 jab programs, even as significant proportions of the public from France to Sweden remain opposed to the idea. The U.K. is hoping to inoculate millions of Britons before year-end, while Spain aims at vaccinating up to 20 million people by June.

The U.S. posted another day of record Covid-19 infections and deaths, as overburdened hospitals around the nation brace for a surge in cases after Thanksgiving.

Track all news and updates around the outbreak in India here.

First Time Since March, Mumbai's Test Positivity Falls To 5%

Mumbai's coronavirus test positivity rate has fallen to 5% for the first time since March, municipal commissioner IS chahal said on Saturday.

When the virus outbreak began, this rate was 35-36% (which means 35-36% of tested samples were positive for the infection), he said in a statement. "Covid test positivity for the last 10 days looks promising but we should not be complacent and should not lower our guard."

The test positivity rate was 6.69% on Nov. 25, the commissioner said.

Of the 16,394 tests conducted on Friday, 8,867 were RT-PCR and 7,527 antigen. As many as 684 RT-PCR tests and 141 antigen tests were positive.

(Source: PTI)

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100 Cops In Ahmedabad Found Positive In Special Drive

About 100 police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus in a special drive in Ahmedabad in the last four days, a senior officer said on Saturday.

Among the infected police personnel, two constables have been hospitalised, while others are in home isolation, Joint Commissioner of Police (Admin) Ajay Chaudhary told PTI.

"We started a drive from Tuesday (Dec. 1) to test all 14,000 police personnel in Ahmedabad. Nearly, 1,000 police personnel are being tested everyday. About 100 personnel have tested positive for the virus so far," Chaudhary said, adding this is the second drive to test the police personnel in the city.

In a drive conducted around two months ago, 200 police personnel had tested positive for coronavirus, he said.

(Source: PTI)