Covid-19 highlights: Sec 144 to be imposed in Bengaluru on New Year's eve to Jan

Section 144 to come into effect from 12 noon of 31st December, 2020 to 6 am of 1st January, 2021 in Bengaluru city.

Tamil Nadu government has said that 40 people, 20 UK returnees and 20 more who came in contact with them, have tested positive for Covid-19 and are currently in separate isolation wards.

The returnees and their contacts belong to the districts of Chennai, Thanjavur, Madurai, Nilgiris, Theni, Chengalpattu and Nagapattinam, reports PTI.

With 3,537 new cases and 70 deaths, Maharashtra's Covid-19 tally reached 1,928,603 infections and 49,463 fatalities. Total recoveries in the state reached 1,824,934 patients after 4,913 recoveries reported on Wednesday.

The state has conducted 71,505 new Covid-19 tests, taking the overall count to 12,672,259 tests.

Rajasthan's Covid-19 tally reached 307,554 cases and 2,689 deaths after reporting 770 new Covid-19 cases and 6 deaths. With 1,142 recoveries, total recoveries in the state reached 295,030 patients, news agency ANI reports.

Rajasthan reported 770 new #COVID19 cases, 6 deaths and 1,142 recoveries/discharges today.

Total cases: 3,07,554
Death toll: 2,689
Total recoveries/discharges: 2,95,030
Active cases: 9,835 pic.twitter.com/jWwldVL7lJ

— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2020

Experts in India's drug regulatory body Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) are meeting today to discuss the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, news agency Reuters reports.

The news agency also reports that the Serum Institute of India (SII), which manufactures the vaccine in India, had submitted additional trial data and approval was likely, according to sources.

The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has said that a Covid-19 negative certificate taken withing 48 hours is mandatory for the devotees visiting the temple.

Officials also said that pilgrims arriving without the certificate would be stopped at the base camps at Nilakkal and Pampa, reports PTI.

Amid the growing concerns about the new Covid-19 strain first detected in the UK, Norway has extended its air travel suspension with the United Kingdom until January 2, 2021.

Norway's health ministry said in a statement that "The suspension of flights to and from the UK is extended until 05:00 p.m. [16:00 GMT] on January 2. It is possible that the ban will be extended beyond this date," reports news agency ANI.

Germany recorded over a 1000 coronavirus deaths in the span of a day, marking the country's highest one day death toll since the pandemic started, reported the Robert Koch Institute. This brings the country's total death toll to 32,107, breaking the previous record of 962 fatalities in a day from last week.

India's daily rate of Covid-19 recoveries have continued to outnumber daily toll of fresh cases for 33 days straight, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday. Compared globally, India's cases per million population are amongst the lowest in the world, tailing Russia, France, Brazil, Italy, UK ,US etc.

California nurse Matthew W, who received the emergency Pfizer coronavirus vaccine tested positive for Covid-19, a week after the shot was administered, reported Reuters. The nurse announced on Facebook that he fell sick on Christmas Eve and later tested positive for coronavirus.

UK has approved the AstraZeneca-Oxford University's Covid-19 vaccine, reported Reuters, becoming the first country in the world to do so. Britain has been grappling with a surge in cases as the new variant of coronavirus continues to wreck havoc. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has placed large parts of the country under Tier-4 restrictions, in an attempt to control its spread.

China National Biotec Group (CNBG), also known as Sinopharm, has said that their indigenous vaccine possesses an efficacy of 79.34% while filing for regulatory approval, reported Reuters. The vaccine is one of the five candidates in the running for emergency approval. The data was collected from late stage Phase 3 trials the CNBG has said.

230 more people tested positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hrs in Jharkhand, pushing the total tally to 1,14,650, reported PTI. In the same time period five more deaths were reported. The district of Ranchi registered the highest number of cases, followed by East Singhbhum and Dhanbad.

India recorded 20,549 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, according to the data published by the Ministry of health and family welfare. The total number of active cases now stands at 262272, down by 6309 in the last 24 hours. A total of 9834141 patients have been successfully discharged so far, with 26572 being discharged in the last 24 hours.

A matched study done by Public Health England has found that the new variant of coronavirus does not cause more severe illness than the other ones. It only has the potential to spread more rapidly, reported Reuters. The study added that the new variant has a high "secondary attack rate", meaning it spreads more rapidly amongst those who were in contact with an infected individual.