Highlights: Worldwide coronavirus caseload has surpassed 80 million in a year

Delhi govt has decided to decrease the total number of Covid-19 beds. The govt said the decision was taken upon reduction of Covid-19 cases across the Capital.

Delhi government reduces number of dedicated beds for COVID-19 patients in Delhi govt hospitals from 4,696 to 2,140. pic.twitter.com/dgTcjpprEZ

— ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2020

Till date more than 82.6 mullion people have been infected by the coronavirus, reported Reuters on Thursday. Since the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, more than 210 countries the world over have witnessed the wrath of the pandemic. On the last day of the year the global death toll from coronavirus stood at 1,803,423​.

UK's defence secretary Ben Wallace said on Thursday that the country's armed forces are ready to deliver 100,000 vaccines a day, reported Reuters. He added that around 130 defence personnel have been authorised to work with health care providers to aide the country's vaccination drive, and there is a plan to add more.

News agency ANI has reported that all states and union territories will conduct a dry vaccination run on January 2, 2021. The government of India has directed states to conduct these runs in at least 3 session sites, including areas with rough terrain and poor logistical support.

Dry run will be conducted by all the State & UT governments on 2nd Jan 2021. The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites; some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support:GoI

— ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2020

A total of 38 individuals among those who have returned from the UK have tested positive for coronavirus, said Health minister Satyendra Jain. He added that 4 amongst them have been found to be carrying the new strain of coronavirus, he told news agency PTI that people who have come in contact with those 4 individuals have also been tracked down and tested.

The Union health ministry on Thursday said that India registered a 96.04 per cent Covid-19 recovery rate, as the total number of recoveries have surpassed 98.6 lakhs. The gap between active cases and recovered cases currently stands at 96,02,624, it added.

South Korea recorded 967 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday pushing the total tally of infections to 60,740. It continued to maintain its three day streak of daily cases below 1000. The highest number of cases were found amongst Seoul residents, while 27 cases were imported from overseas.

Mangalore city in Karnataka has imposed Section 144 from 6 pm on December 31 to 6 am January 1 to to curb the spread of coronavirus, reported news agency ANI. Pubs, restaurants, clubs, parties will not be allowed in the city as gathering of more than five people in one place is prohibited.

India in the last 24 hours recorded 21,821 new cases of Covid-19. The country registered a total of 257,656 active cases, pushing the nation-wide tally to 10,266,674. In the same time period the death toll rose by 299 to 148,738.

EU drug regulator, European Medicines Authority (EMA) is looking into the timing of the doses to be administered and not the size for their review process, reported Reuters. The EMA has stressed that since the vaccination drive is being carried out in the middle of a pandemic it is important to note how much protection the first shot offers and the waiting period between the first and the second shot. A source told Reuters that the variations in doses during the trials makes the approval process complex for regulators.

Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has imposed night curfew in Delhi. Not more than five persons to assemble at public place, no new year celebration events, no gatherings at public places permitted from 11pm of 31st December to 6am of 1st January and 11pm of 1 January to 6am of 2nd January.

China has given conditional approval to China National Biotec Group (CNBG), or Sinopharm's coronavirus vaccine candidate for use amongst general public, reported Reuters. This is the first such kind of approval given to any vaccine candidate in the country.

The United States saw a disastrously hight number of deaths on Wednesday, when 3,927 people succumbed to the coronavirus before 8:30 pm, reported AFP. Bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 341,845. US is the worst hit country in the world with a total of 19,715,899 cases recorded till date.