Highlights: India 'pharmacy of the world', says Harsh Vardhan

Haryana on Wednesday recorded 42 more coronavirus-related deaths, its highest single-day fatality count so far, pushing the toll to 2,291 while 2,197 fresh cases took the state's infection tally to 2,24,489, according to a bulletin.

The new fatalities include six each from Faridabad and Panipat and five each from Rohtak and Bhiwani while three people each died in Gurugram, Hisar and Fatehabad, according to the state health department's daily bulletin.

Karnataka added 1,630 new cases of coronavirus and 19 deaths taking the total infections to 8,78,055 and the toll to 11,714, the health department said on Wednesday. The day also saw 1,333 patients getting discharged after recovery, leaving 24,890 active cases.

Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday reported 1,773 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the count of infections to 1,98,284, health officials said. With 14 more people succumbing to the viral infection, the state's death toll rose to 3,197, they said.

A total of 996 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking MP's overall recovery count to 1,81,345.

The phase-3 clinical trials of Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine candidate will begin at Sola civil hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Wednesday. He told reporters the hospital received 500 doses of the vaccine candidate, Covaxin, for the trial. Patel, who also holds health portfolio, said doctors at the hospital will be trained for administering the shots by experts from union health ministry, who, he said will arrive in Ahmedabad soon.

Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 223 more Covid-19 cases, taking the district's infection tally to 22,022 on Wednesday, official data showed. The number of active cases in the district rose to 1,357 from 1,276 on the previous day, according to the data released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period.

Gautam Buddh Nagar has the fourth highest active cases in the state.

With the addition of 7 fresh cases on Wednesday, the caseload in Mumbai's Dharavi has risen to 3,663, a city civic body official said. Of the total recorded cases in the slum colony, 3,333 patients have already recovered from the viral infection.

Manipur reported 193 new cases and 115 recoveries today, taking total cases to 24,133 including 20,640 recoveries, 245 deaths and 3,248 active cases, the state health department said.

Government think tank Niti Aayog released a compendium of practices that states and union territories have adopted for containing and managing the outbreak of coronavirus. The compendium was released by Niti Aayog member V K Paul and Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.

“While there is much to be gained by learning from global practices for tackling the pandemic, it is equally important to take note of practices that are grounded in our realities. Instead of expecting every state to reinvent the wheel, dissemination of such practices allows them to learn from each other and help find solutions to common problems,” Kant said in the foreword.

Rajasthan recorded 18 more fatalities due to the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the death toll to 2,218, while 3,285 fresh cases brought the infection tally to 2,53,767, according to a health department bulletin.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stands at 26,320 in the state.

According to the bulletin, so far 2,25,229 people have been discharged after recovering from the infection.

Maharashtra reports 6,159 new Covid-19 cases, taking tally to 17,95,959; 65 deaths push toll to 46,748, according to the state health department.

Gujarat reports highest one-day spike of 1,540 Covid-19 cases, taking tally to 2,01,949; 14 deaths push toll to 3,906, according to health department.

Only 831 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the gross to 8,64,674. The number of active cases fell below the 13,000 mark to 12,673 after 1,176 patients got cured in 24 hours ending 9 am on Wednesday. Six deaths were reported, the lowest daily count in about five months now.

With 2,318 fresh Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh, the infection tally in the state rose to 5,33,355 on Wednesday, while 29 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 7,644, a health department bulletin said. There are 24,876 active cases in the state, of which 11,718 are in home isolation, Additional Chief Secretary Health Amit Mohan Prasad said.

West Bengal's Leader of Opposition Abdul Mannan tested positive for Covid-19, following which he was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata, state health department officials said on Wednesday. Mannan (68), a veteran leader of the Congress in the state, got himself tested for Covid-19 on Tuesday after noticing some symptoms.

"He is having several comorbidities and high blood sugar, which are obviously matters of concern. His condition is stable at the moment," state department officials said. Mannan, a legislator from Champdani, recently returned from Darjeeling to Kolkata and was staying at the MLA Hostel.

Lithuania on Wednesday extended its coronavirus lockdown until December 17, when the new government is expected to take over. The outgoing government said the lockdown had stabilised new infections at about 11,000 per week, twice as high as during the week of November 4 when the three-week lockdown was announced.