Highlights: 7-day nationwide lockdown in Bhutan from tomorrow
The US has the world’s highest absolute number of cases as well as the most deaths related to the virus.
- 11:10 PM IST
75 new Covid-19 cases in Assam
- 10:53 PM IST
Bhutan announces seven-day nationwide lockdown from Wednesday
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Karnataka's Covid-19 tally reaches 911,382
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Himachal Pradesh's Covid-19 tally nears 53,000
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Madhya Pradesh reports over 1,000 new Covid-19 cases
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Punjab issues SOPs for new Covid-19 variant discovered in UK
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Delhi reports 939 new Covid-19 cases
- 08:10 PM IST
Tamil Nadu reports 1,052 new Covid-19 cases
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Rajasthan's Covid-19 tally crosses 300,000
- 07:37 PM IST
Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally crosses 1.9 million
- 07:06 PM IST
New Covid-19 testing facility set up at Kempegowda international airport in Bengaluru
- 02:55 PM IST
Health ministry issues SOP for epidemiological surveillance of new Covid-19 strain detected in UK
- 02:37 PM IST
BioNTech says mutation-beating vaccine could be made in six weeks
- 01:16 PM IST
Active Covid-19 cases in India slumps to lowest in 163 days says health ministry
- 11:36 AM IST
South Korea reports 869 more Covid-19 cases, 51,460 in total

India reported 19,556 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 301 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Union health ministry data showed on Tuesday morning. The virus has so far killed 146,111 people in the country and 9,636,487 people have recovered from the disease. The health ministry has said that with only 351 average daily Covid-19 fatalities reported between December 14-20, India continues to have one of the lowest deaths per million. A week earlier, from December 7-3, 450 average daily Covid-19 deaths were reported.
Following the lead of many other countries, India too stopped flights from the UK till the end of the year after a new strain of coronavirus was detected in the UK. India has not yet detected the new strain of coronavirus but the curbs on flight services was done as a “measure of caution”. “It is just a precautionary measure. This strain has not been found in India,” confirmed Rajesh Bhushan, Union health secretary. The new strain is feared to be more infective and could 70% more transmissible, experts in UK said over the weekend.
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The United States surpassed 18 million reported Covid-19 cases on Monday, figures from Johns Hopkins University showed, as the virus surges nationwide.
The US has the world’s highest absolute number of cases as well as the most deaths related to the virus, according to the figures. It had a total of 18,006,061 reported cases on Monday evening and more than 319,000 deaths. The country began administering vaccines a week ago and has given approval to immunizations developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
75 new Covid-19 cases in Assam
75 new Covid-19 cases take Assam's tally to 215,585. 211,075 recovered cases, 3,483 active cases and 1,024 deaths thus far.
Bhutan announces seven-day nationwide lockdown from Wednesday
A nationwide lockdown will be enforced for seven days, starting 23rd December, announces Bhutan PM's office.
Karnataka's Covid-19 tally reaches 911,382
Karnataka reported 1,141 new Covid-19 cases, 1,136 discharges and 14 deaths today.
Karnataka reported 1,141 new #COVID19 cases, 1,136 discharges and 14 deaths today.
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Total cases: 9,11,382
Total discharges: 8,85,341
Death toll: 12,029
Active cases: 13,993 pic.twitter.com/CkKxMn2uW2
Himachal Pradesh's Covid-19 tally nears 53,000
332 new Covid-19 cases take Himachal Pradesh's tally to 52,955. 47240 recoveries, 4,791 active cases and 877 deaths in state thus far.
Madhya Pradesh reports over 1,000 new Covid-19 cases
Madhya Pradesh reports 1,005 new Covid-19 cases. Tally at 233,324 including 218,828 recoveries, 10,994 active cases and 3,502 deaths.
Punjab issues SOPs for new Covid-19 variant discovered in UK
Punjab government issues SOP for the new variant of Coronavirus virus detected in the United Kingdom. Eight out of 262 travellers from the UK isolated after testing positive, says state health minister.
Delhi reports 939 new Covid-19 cases
Delhi reports 939 new Covid-19 cases, 1,434 recoveries and 25 deaths in last 24 hours.
Delhi reports 939 new #COVID19 cases, 1,434 recoveries and 25 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Delhi Health Department
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Total cases: 6,18,747
Total recoveries:5,99,683
Death toll: 10,329
Active cases: 8,735 pic.twitter.com/k8ZSoYIlpe
Tamil Nadu reports 1,052 new Covid-19 cases
Tamil Nadu reports 1,052 new Covid-19 cases as tally reaches 890,014. 787,611 recoveries, 12,012 deaths and 9,391 active cases here thus far.
Rajasthan's Covid-19 tally crosses 300,000
Rajasthan's Covid-19 tally reaches 300,716 with 807 new cases.
Rajasthan reported 807 new #COVID19 cases, 8 deaths and 1,159 recoveries/discharges today.
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
Total cases 3,00,716
Death toll 2,634
Total recoveries/discharges 2,86,481
Active cases 11,601 pic.twitter.com/gcOGeaEukb
Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally crosses 1.9 million
Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally reaches 1,902,458 with 3,106 new cases. 1,794,080 recoveries, 58,376 active cases and 48,876 deaths in state thus far.
New Covid-19 testing facility set up at Kempegowda international airport in Bengaluru
The Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru has launched a new round-the-clock Covid-19 testing facility with a sample collection kiosk inside the terminal and a dedicated, state-of-the-art laboratory outside.
The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) is launching the testing facility and the results of all the samples will be registered on the ICMR website, reports PTI.
Health ministry issues SOP for epidemiological surveillance of new Covid-19 strain detected in UK
Union health ministry of India has issues standard operating procedures (SOP) for epidemiological surveillance after a new strain of Covid-19 was detected in the UK.
The SOPs were issued following the arrival of international air travel passengers from the UK and guides the international airports and the state governments regarding the measures to be taken, news agency ANI reported.
Union Health Ministry issues Standard Operating Procedure for epidemiological surveillance and response in the context of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the United Kingdom. pic.twitter.com/S1O72rVsdr
— ANI (@ANI) December 22, 2020
BioNTech says mutation-beating vaccine could be made in six weeks
German vaccine maker BioNTech has expressed confidence that a mutation-beating vaccine for Covid-19 could be made in six weeks, reports news agency AFP.
Already the Covid-19 vaccine that BioNTech developed along with Pfizer Inc., has been given emergency use authorisation in some countries like the US and the UK and has also received conditional marketing authorisation in the EU.
Active Covid-19 cases in India slumps to lowest in 163 days says health ministry
With 292,518 cases, India's active Covid-19 caseload falls below the 3 lakh mark, to its lowest in 163 days, the union health ministry tweeted.
Also, 19,556 new Covid-19 infections and 301 new deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, as per data from the ministry.
#Unite2FightCorona
— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 22, 2020
India’s Active Caseload slumps below 3 lakh; lowest in 163 days.
Active Caseload retracts to less than 3% of the Total Cases.https://t.co/a4DY7r5NRq pic.twitter.com/3lC1oTQVIA
South Korea reports 869 more Covid-19 cases, 51,460 in total
South Korea has reported 869 more cases of Covid-19, raising the total number of infections to 51,460 as of Tuesday noon. The daily caseload stayed below 1,000 for two straight days, but it hovered above 100 for 45 days since Nov. 8 due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases. For the past week, the daily average number of infections was 1,014.
First published: Dec 22, 2020 06:47 IST