India on Monday recorded fresh 20,021 Covid-19 infections, pushing the total number of cases to 1,02,07,871. The number of deaths remained below 300 for the third straight day at 279, taking the tally of fatalities to 1,47,901, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
In the last 24 hours, 21,131 people have recovered with the total number of people recuperating from the virus reaching 97,82,669. There are 2,77,301 active cases in the country. The recovery rate stands at 95.83 per cent while the fatality rate is 1.45 as per cent.
A total of 16,88,18,054 samples have been tested for Covid-19 till now. Of these, 7,15,397 samples were tested on Sunday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit state in the country with 19,13,382 cases.
Here’re some more updates:
*A two-day dry run for coronavirus vaccine program starts today in Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Assam.
*Mainland China reported 21 newly confirmed coronavirus cases, including six locally transmitted infections, the National Health Commission said on Monday.
*France has flagged off its covid-19 vaccination drive with a 78-year-old woman being the first person to administer the vaccine developed by Pfizer.
*Canada has confirmed two cases of the highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain.
*South Korea detected the first case of the new covid variant on Sunday, the health officials said.
* The US, currently the hardest-hit country in the world by the Covid-19 pandemic, has reached yet another grim milestone as its overall caseload has surpassed the 19 million mark.
*Sydney has banned large gatherings on New Year countdown at Opera House amid an outbreak of the coronavirus. The viewers are told to watch its famous new year fireworks from home.
*World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday called on countries to make greater investment in their public health systems to be better prepared for pandemics and epidemics.
Meanwhile, the overall number of global coronavirus cases has topped 80.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.76 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.