Highlights: Israel bans international flights to curb spread of new variant

Egypt on Sunday began vaccinating frontline medical staff against the coronavirus disease using the vaccine developed by Chinese based pharmaceutical firm Sinopharm. Health Minister Hala Zayed added that the vaccine would be provided free of cost to all doctors and frontline workers treating coronavirus patients, then to other medical workers, senior citizens and people with chronic illnesses, reports Reuters.

Israel on Sunday banned all international flights to and from the country to stop the new coronavirus variant from spreading, reported Reuters. The ban will be coming to force to Monday and will reportedly last till the end of January. Israel is currently under its third national lockdown as the government races to inoculate its citizens.

Jharkhand on Sunday reported 54 new cases of Covid-19, taking the state wide tally to 1,18,286. 109 individuals recovered from the infection taking the toll of active cases down to 821. 2 fatalities were also reported, the death toll now stands at 1063, reported news agency ANI.

Serbia reported its first case of the mutated strain of Covid-19 on Sunday, reported Reuters. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told reporters that the variant has been detected in a woman who had recently travelled to London. The afflicted individual has been kept under observation.

The Union health ministry told news agency ANI that as of Sunday a total of 16 lakh healthcare workers have been inoculated all over the country, through 28,613 sessions. On Sunday 31,466 beneficiaries were vaccinated, with 10 reporting adverse effects.

Uttar Pradesh on Sunday recorded 297 new cases of Covid-19, taking the total number of cases to 5,98,713. 8 individuals also succumbed to the infection, pushing the death toll to 8,617, reported news agency PTI.

The national capital reported 185 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, taking the statewide tally to 6,33,924. 9 fatalities were also reported, with the death toll now standing at 10,808, reported news agency PTI. The number of active cases in Delhi currently stands at 1,741.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock told reporters on Saturday that a total of 77 cases of the South African variant of Covid-19 has been found in the UK so far. All the imported cases are linked to international travel, reported Reuters.

Brazil reported 1,202 deaths from the Covid-19 pandemic in the last 24 hours, making Saturday the fifth consecutive day of more than 1,000 deaths, bringing the death toll to 216,445, the ministry of health reported Saturday. The ministry said that in the last 24 hours, 62,334 new Covid-19 cases were registered, bringing the total to 8,816,254. Sao Paulo, the state affected the most by the pandemic, has registered 51,423 deaths and 1,694,355 positive cases in total.

Hong Kong plans to lift the Covid-19 lockdown that was imposed on one of its most densely populated districts on Monday, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung Kin-chung informed on Sunday. Chief Secretary Cheung said that the authorities are set to complete coronavirus screening this weekend on around 10,000 people living in the Yau Tsim Mong area, which was placed under quarantine on Saturday to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the South China Morning Post reported. Stating that the preliminary results from the screening operation were expected by Sunday night, Cheung added: "If everything goes smoothly, we can lift the restrictions at 6 am on Monday so that people can go to work."

Pakistan has authorised the emergency use of Russia’s Sputnik V, the third anti-Covid-19 vaccine approved by the country against the deadly coronavirus, authorities said on Sunday. The government has given a go-ahead to a local pharmaceutical company for the import and distribution of the Russian-developed Sputnik V, the Dawn newspaper quoted an official as saying.

Sputnik V is the third vaccine to be approved for the emergency use in the country, the report said. “In a meeting conducted by the registration board of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), another vaccine has also been given EUA (emergency use authorisation) which was developed with the backing of Russian Development Investment Fund,” the official said.

The union territory of Puducherry logged 30 new coronavirus cases during the last 24, taking the overall tally to 38,860, a top Health department official said on Sunday. A 87-year old patient succumbed to the infection pushing up the toll to 645, Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release.

The patient who passed away at the government hospital here had severe Covid pneumonia and ARDS, he added. The 30 new cases were identified at the end of the examination of 3,046 samples.

India took only 6 days to administer one million Covid-19 vaccine doses, a count which is higher than that of countries like the US and the UK, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday as the number of beneficiaries who have received the anti-coronavirus shots inched close to 16 lakh. The UK took 18 days whereas the US took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry said. As on January 24, till 8 am, nearly 16 lakh (15,82,201) beneficiaries have received Covid-19 vaccination. In a span of 24 hours, close to 2 lakh (1,91,609) people were vaccinated across 3,512 sessions. A total of 27,920 sessions have been conducted so far, the ministry said. India took only 6 days to roll out one million vaccine doses. This count is higher than countries like the US and the UK. The UK took 18 days whereas USA took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry highlighted.

Odisha's Covid-19 tally on Sunday mounted to 3,34,300 as 150 more people tested positive for the infection, while one fresh fatality pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 1,905, a health department official said. The new cases were detected in 24 of the state's 30 districts, with 89 reported from different quarantine centres, while the remaining 61 are local contact cases.

Sundergarh district reported the highest of 22 new positive cases followed by Bargarh (18) and Cuttack (15). Six other districts - Dhenkanal, Gajapati, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nayagarh and Rayagada, did not register any new positive cases since Saturday.

Telangana recorded 197 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the total positives to over 2.93 lakh while one fatality pushed the toll to 1,589, the state government said on Sunday. Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 32, followed by Karimnagar (13) and Medchal Malkajgiri and Rangareddy with 12 each, it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 PM on January 23. The total number of cases stood at2,93,253 while recoveries were at 2,88,275.

Unnecessary movement, as well as non-essential activities, will be banned for seven days starting from Monday in the face of the collapse of the health system due to the surge in the cases of Covid-19, Wilson Lima, governor of the Brazilian state of Amazonas announced on Saturday. "The movement of people will be prohibited, which does not mean cutting off their right to come and go, but they can only leave out of extreme necessity, such as going to the doctor, the supermarket or being authorized to work," said the governor at a press conference. The announcement came following a request from the Public Ministry after the city's oxygen supplies were depleted due to 100 per cent occupancy in hospitals in the state capital of Manaus.

Brazil reported 1,202 new fatalities, ending the deadliest week since the surge last summer. Total deaths are now 216,445, the Health Ministry reported. The nation, which has the most cases after the US and India, reported another 62,334 infections. The weekly count declined from the previous week but is still higher than during the summer peak. Total cases are 8.8 million.

Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine program is on track to begin as scheduled, with the first Pfizer doses set to arrive in hospitals in mid-to-late February, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Sunday. Australia pre-purchased 10 million units of the Pfizer and BioTech vaccine in November to begin inoculating front-line workers in hospitals and aged-care residents next month. Concern has heightened about delays in delivery of the vaccine and tightening supplies after Pfizer said it would scale back shipments to countries outside the US while it renovates a factory in Belgium.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 12,257 to 2,134,936, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Sunday. The reported death toll rose by 349 to 51,870, the tally showed.

Mizoram reported two new Covid-19 cases, pushing the tally to 4,351, an official said on Sunday. The two new cases from Aizawl district were confirmed at Zoram Medical College (ZMC) through RT-PCR facility, he said. While one patient has returned from Maharashtra, the other was diagnosed with Covid-19 during contact tracing, he said. Mizoram now has 58 active Covid-19 cases, while 4,284 people have recovered from the disease so far. The Covid-19 recovery rate in the state now is 98.47 per cent, the official said.

The Covid-19 tally in Thane district of Maharashtra has reached 2,51,641 with the addition of 266 new cases, an official said on Sunday. The virus has claimed lives of five more persons, raising the death toll in the district rose to 6,109, he said. The Covid-19 mortality rate in the district stands at 2.43 per cent, he said. So far, 2,41,975 patients have recovered from the infection, improving the recovery rate in the district to 96. 16 per cent, the official said. At present, there are 3,557 active Covid-19 cases in the district, he said.

Lieutenant General CP Mohanty, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command of the Indian Army on Saturday said around 6,000 healthcare workers in the command have been vaccinated against Covid-19 so far. Briefing the media, Mohanty said, "We have prioritised our vaccination drives. Our healthcare workers in military hospitals are providing sustained support. We have started administering the vaccine to our health workers. Around 6,000 of them have been vaccinated so far."

Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally mounted to 1,18,232 as 78 more people tested positive for the infection, a health official said on Sunday. The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 1,061 as one more person succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, he said. Ranchi district reported the highest number of new cases at 55, followed by Dhanbad (5) and four cases each in East Singhbhum and Ramgarh, the official said. Jharkhand now has 878 active coronavirus cases, while 1,16,293 people have recovered from the disease so far, he said.