Highlights: UK reports 53,285 Covid-19 cases, 613 deaths

With 921 new cases and 13 fatalities, Tamil Nadu's Covid-19 tally reached 818,935 cases and 12,135 deaths. The state also reported 1,029 new recoveries taking the overall recoveries to 798,420 patients.

A total of 24 UK returnees and 20 of their close contacts have tested positive for Covid-19 in TN, reports PTI.

Delhi reported 585 new Covid-19 cases and 21 deaths taking the city's tally to 625,954 total cases and 10,557 deaths. Overall recoveries reached 610,039 patients and active cases stand at 5,358.

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Italy recorded 22,211 new Covid-19 cases and 462 deaths, both lesser than the previous day's count of 23,477 cases and 555 deaths, the country's health ministry said.

Total death toll in the country 74, 621 and overall cases reached 2.129 million, reports news agency Reuters.

The United Kingdom recorded 53,285 Covid-19 cases and 613 deaths, a slight dip from Thursday's numbers - 55,892 cases and 964 deaths, reports news agency Reuters.

Karnataka reported 877 new Covid-19 cases and 6 deaths, taking the state's Covid-19 tally to 920,373 total cases and 12,096 fatalities. Overall recoveries reached 897,200 patients after 1,084 new recoveries and the active caseload stands at 11,058 cases, reports ANI.

Maharashtra reported 3,524 new Covid-19 cases and 59 deaths, taking the state's Covid-19 tally to 1,935,636 cases and 49,580 deaths. With 4,279 new recoveries, total recoveries in the state reached 1,832,825 patients.

With 253 new cases and eight deaths, Punjab's Covid-19 tally reached 166,770 cases and 5,349 deaths, according to a government bulletin.

Punjab reports 253 new #COVID19 cases, 408 discharges, and 8 deaths today, says Govt of Punjab.

Total cases in the State rise to 1,66,770 including 1,57,904 discharges and 5,349 deaths.

Active cases stand at 3,517 pic.twitter.com/Q4I77TZmPj

— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2021

Andhra Pradesh has recorded 326 new Covid-19 cases and 350 recoveries with no Covid-19 related deaths for the first time in almost seven months.

The state's Covid-19 tally stands at 882,612 total cases and 7,108 deaths so far. Active caseload stands at 3,238 and a total of 872,266 patients have recovered so far in the state, reports PTI.

India is set to receive its first Covid-19 vaccines as subject expert committee of the regulatory body Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given emergency use authorisation for AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccines, reports Reuters.

India's drug regulator approves AstraZeneca/Oxford coronavirus vaccine for emergency use pic.twitter.com/6rWYrDcZER

— Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) January 1, 2021

With 240 new cases and 3 deaths, Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally reached 115,113 total cases and 1,030 deaths, according to health officials.

Active caseload in the state stands at 1,659 and 112,424 people have recovered in the state so far, reports news agency PTI.

the Union health ministry on Friday said that 4 more individuals have been found to be carrying the new mutated strain of coronavirus, taking the toll of such cases to 29, according to news agency ANI.

4 more persons have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus taking the total number of new #COVID19 strain cases to 29: Health Ministry

— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2021

Russia on Friday recorded 27,039 new cases of coronavirus taking the nation-wide toll to 3,186,336, reported Reuters. 536 fatalities was also recorded in the same time period, which pushed the death toll to 57,555. The capital city of Moscow reported 5,907 cases overnight.

Odisha recorded 245 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, taking the state's total tally to 3,29,866, reported news agency PTI. The district of Sambalpur recorded the highest number of new cases followed by Sundergarh and Angul. Three fatalities were also reported from Khurda, Cuttack and Nabarangpur districts, a state official told PTI. The current Covid-19 death toll in the state now stands at 1,876.

Singapore announced on Friday that it will block entry of visitors from South Africa fearing the new variant of coronavirus circulating in the country, reported Reuters. Fearing the new strain might be more contagious the government has asked all returning residents to undergo RT-PCR tests before quarantining themselves for a 14-day period.

India's Covid-19 recovery rate improved marginally on Friday, standing tall at 96.08%, according to data shared by the Union ministry on twitter. On Friday 23181 individuals were discharged after being cured of the infection, taking the total tally of recoveries to over 9.9 million. India continues to have one of the highest rates of recovery globally, the Union ministry added.

📢#CoronaVirusUpdates:

📍India's #COVID19 recovery rate improves to 96.08% as on January 01, 2021.#IndiaFightsCorona #Unite2FightCorona@ICMRDELHI pic.twitter.com/wgkJ5ETVWH

— #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) January 1, 2021