Coronavirus India Updates: Tally Tops 1.02 Crore As 2020 Ends
Track all news and developments around the outbreak in India here.
Vaccine Administration Dry Run On Jan. 2
The Narendra Modi government has asked all states and union territories to ensure effective preparedness for Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
All states and union territories will conduct dry runs for vaccine administration on Jan. 2, the government said in a press release.
Details of the proposed dry run:
Dry run is proposed to be conducted in all state capitals in at least 3 session sites
Some states will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support
Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their capitals
The details of the dry run were released after a high-level meeting to review the preparedness at session sites for Covid-19 vaccination, chaired by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.
Vaccine Will Be Available In India In A Few Days, Says PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that preparations are in the final stages for Covid-19 vaccination programme in India.
Speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rajkot, Modi said that people will get a vaccine manufactured in India in the next few days.
Confirmed coronavirus cases in India continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace, as the eventful year of 2020 comes to an end.
Authorities reported 21,822 fresh cases in 24 hours taking the total tally to 1,02,66,674 in the world’s second-worst infected country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Dec. 30. This includes over 1.48 lakh deaths and 98.6 lakh patients who have recovered.
New cases remained under the 25,000-mark for over a week now, significantly lower than the peaks seen in mid-September. One-day fatalities too remained below 300 for the sixth consecutive day.
The slower pace of India’s daily infections and an improved recovery rate have kept active cases in India below the 3-lakh-mark for over a week now. That’s just 2.5% of the total caseload. India’s active cases had crossed 10 lakh in mid-September.
Key figures:
- Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 1,02,66,674
- Active cases: 2,57,656
- Cured/discharged/migrated: 98,60,280
- Deaths: 1,48,738
- Number of fresh cases in last 24 hours: 21,822
- One-day recoveries: 26,139
- One-day deaths: 299
Global Updates
Covid cases in New York City are approaching a seven-day average positivity rate of 8%, the highest in more than seven months, and city hospitals are admitting more than 200 people a day for Covid-like illness. Meanwhile, California reported 432 deaths from the virus on Tuesday, marking a daily record, and a temperature snag delayed shipments of the Moderna Inc. vaccine to Texas. Overall, the U.S. vaccination effort is falling short of its goals in its first few weeks.
Argentina became the second country after the U.K. to approve the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford, and the first in Latin America.
Globally, over 82 million coronavirus cases have been detected with 1.8 million dead.