Highlights: Delhi logs 703 new cases, 28 deaths

Tamil Nadu reported 957 new coronavirus, pushing the state's overall tally to 8,16,132. 12 new fatalities took the death toll to 12,092.

Tamil Nadu reported 957 new #COVID19 cases, 1,065 discharges, and 12 deaths in the last 24 hours: State Health Department, Govt of Tamil Nadu

Total cases: 8,16,132

Total discharges: 7,95,293

Death toll: 12,092

Active cases: 8,747 pic.twitter.com/IaPhYzodEA

— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2020

Uttarakhand recorded 317 new coronavirus infections, taking the state's tally to 90,167. Six new fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,495.

317 new #COVID19 positive cases, 555 recovered cases & 6 deaths reported in Uttarakhand today.

Total number of cases: 90,167
Total active cases: 5,256
Total recovered cases: 82,243
Death toll: 1,495 pic.twitter.com/9lXGlNg1Zv

— ANI (@ANI) December 29, 2020

Chandigarh Deputy Commissioner has asked hotel and restaurant owners to operate with half their capacity and keep gatherings limited to 200 ahead of New Year's Day.

Uttar Pradesh recorded 1,044 new coronavirus infections, taking the state's active case tally to 14,344. The death toll after 18 new fatalities stands at 8,340.

Uttar Pradesh reported 1,044 new #COVID19 cases, 1,369 discharges and 18 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Total active cases: 14,344
Total Discharges: 5,61,257
Death toll: 8,340 pic.twitter.com/95NtMspbrc

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) December 29, 2020

The number of visitors to the 2021 Republic Day parade will be curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Seating arrangements are to be made keeping social distancing norms in mind.

The Union Health Ministry said that 60% of all active coronavirus infections are from Maharashtra, Kerala, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, said that the majority of the Indian population was susceptible to infection by the coronavirus due to the cold weather. He said that the country must remain careful of the new variant making a run.

The ICMR's Director General said that it was important that too much pressure was not put on the virus since it would cause it to mutate. He recommended judicious use of therapies which would prove beneficial.

The Union Health Ministry said that a consortium of 10 govt labs across the country to do genome sequencing, called INSACOG, had been established. The labs belonged to ICMR, BioTech India, CSIR and the Health Ministry.

Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to the Government of India Prof K. Vijay Raghavan said that there was no evidence to support the hypothesis that the coronavirus vaccines would be ineffective against the variants found in the UK and South Africa.

The Union Health Ministry said that it had dine roughly 5000 genome sequences before the emergence of the UK coronavirus strain. Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that they would now increase sequencing.

Union Health Ministry Secy Rajesh Bhushan said that 63% of total cases were reported in males & 37% cases in females. Age-wise, 8% cases reported below age of 17 yrs, 13% in 18-25 years age group, 39% in 26-44 years group,26% in 45-60 years group & 14% above 60 years.

Former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar's wife, Santosh Shailza, passed away after battling Covid-19 in the early hours of Tuesday.

Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary of the Union Health Ministry said that the country had 2.7 lakh active coronavirus cases and that number was decreasing. He also said that the positivity rate last week stood at 2.25%.

Indonesia has secured deals with Pfizer and AstraZeneca to provide 50 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine.