Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Nears 99 Lakh With 27,000 New Cases

Daily coronavirus infections in India fell significantly lower than 30,000 at a time when the total tally of confirmed cases is headed towards the 1-crore mark.

India reported 27,071 new cases in a matter of 24 hours taking the total tally to over 98.8 lakh in the world’s second-worst infected nation, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Dec. 13. That includes over 93.8 lakh recoveries and and more than 1.43 lakh deaths.

At over 30,000, daily recoveries continued to surpass new cases for over two weeks now. Active cases remained below the 4-lakh-mark for a seventh day in a row.

At this rate of infection, India is likely to have over a crore confirmed Covid-19 cases in less than a week.

Key Figures

• Total number of confirmed cases: 98,84,100
• Active cases: 3,52,586
• Cured/discharged/migrated: 93,88,159
• Deaths: 1,43,355
• Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 27,071
• One-day recoveries: 30,695
• One-day deaths: 336

The central and state governments are now making an effort to plan a systematic vaccination drive. An estimated one crore frontline health workers are set to receive the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine whenever it becomes available, with around 92% of government hospitals and 55% of private hospitals across the country providing data identifying the workers.

Mumbai, one of the worst affected cities in the country, has formed 500 teams of at least five members each that will be deployed for administering the vaccine.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday announced that the state would vaccinate its people free of cost. "No one will be charged for the vaccine. This is the stand of the government," he told reporters at Kannur. Kerala is the latest to announce free of cost Covid-19 vaccine for its people. States, including Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh, have already made a similar announcement.

Gearing up for distribution of Covid-19 vaccine when it is made available, the Telangana government has also constituted committees at the state, district and mandal levels for planning and execution, with priority to high risk groups, followed by others.

Global Update

Inoculations against Covid-19 are set to begin in the U.S. as early as Monday, as deaths in the country approached 300,000. The head of the government’s vaccine drive said as much as 80% of the population could be vaccinated by summer. A U.S. decision on Moderna Inc.’s vaccine could come by the end of the week.

South Korea reported a drop in new cases after posting a record of more than 1,000 infections on Sunday. New York City will halt indoor dining at restaurants and bars on Monday, while Germany is set to enter into hard lockdown Wednesday.

Globally, over 72.1 million have contracted the virus so far.