Highlights: Pentagon to deploy troops for Covid-19 vaccination assistance

India’s Covid-19 caseload is the second-highest in the world, behind that of the United States, and ahead of Brazil’s. The United Kingdom is at fourth, followed by Russia.

A special team of doctors from SSKM Hospital conducts the rapid antibody test to check the spread of coronavirus pandemic in Kolkata in this file photo. (ANI Photo)

India’s count of cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crossed 10.8 million as the Union health ministry on Friday said that the country logged 12,408 new infections in the preceding 24 hours. While the pandemic situation has come under control in most states and Union territories, it is still a concern in the states of Kerala and Maharashtra, which, the health ministry says, have the highest number of active Covid-19 cases in India. Maharashtra is the only state to have topped the 20 million case mark, while Kerala’s tally is second highest at more than 944,000. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are the next three states with the highest Covid-19 caseloads, respectively....Read More

Follow all the updates here:

• 5 Feb 2021, 11:01:20 PM IST

  Madhya Pradesh reports 162 new Covid-19 cases

  Madhya Pradesh's Covid-19 tally on Friday rose to 2,56,017 after the state recorded 162 new cases, a health official said, reports PTI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 10:49:29 PM IST

  Pentagon to deploy troops for Covid vaccination assisstance

  President Joe Biden's administration on Friday announced that the Pentagon had approved the deployment of 1,100 active-duty troops to assist with Covid-19 vaccination efforts in the United States, reports Reuters.

• 5 Feb 2021, 10:33:51 PM IST

  Italy reports 377 new coronavirus cases

  Italy reported 377 coronavirus-related deaths on Friday against 421 the day before, the health ministry said, while the daily tally of new infections rose to 14,218 from 13,659 the day before, reports Reuters.

• 5 Feb 2021, 10:05:53 PM IST

  Georgia records 538 new Covid cases

  Georgia on Friday reported 538 new Covid-19 cases taking its total count to 261,018, according to the country's National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC), reports ANI/Xinhua.

• 5 Feb 2021, 09:28:54 PM IST

  Arunachal Pradesh has highest Covid-19 recovery rate in India: State health minister

  Arunachal Pradesh has the highest Covid-19 recovery rate of 99.61 per cent among all other states in India, a minister claimed on Friday, reports PTI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 08:51:57 PM IST

  Philippines reports 8 new cases of UK Covid variant

  The Philippines has detected an additional eight cases of the more contagious coronavirus variant first found in Britain, bringing the total confirmed cases of the new strain in the country to 25, reports ANI/Xinhua.

• 5 Feb 2021, 08:30:13 PM IST

  Maharashtra home minister tests Covid positive

  Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh says he has tested positive for Covid-19, reports ANI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 08:05:40 PM IST

  Manipur logs 11 new Covid cases

• 5 Feb 2021, 07:16:35 PM IST

  India vaccinated 5 million in 21 days, says health ministry

  We completed 50 Lakh (5 million) vaccinations in 21 days. In the US it took 24 days, 43 days in the UK and 45 days in Israel, said Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Union Health Ministry.

• 5 Feb 2021, 07:09:16 PM IST

  Oxford says the AstraZeneca vaccine works against coronavirus variants

  Oxford university has declared in an academic paper that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine works on all the known coronavirus variants, reported Reuters. The paper is yet to be peer-reviewed.

• 5 Feb 2021, 06:49:51 PM IST

  UP to start reopening schools from Feb 10 for classes 6-8

  Uttar Pradesh is scheduled to reopen schools from Feb 10 for classes 6 to 8. Students of classes 1 to 5 will be allowed back in schools from March 1, reported news agency ANI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 06:25:35 PM IST

  Andhra Pradesh records 97 new cases of Covid-19, 1 fatality

• 5 Feb 2021, 05:47:07 PM IST

  Delhi records 154 new cases of Covid-19, 2 fatalities

• 5 Feb 2021, 04:52:00 PM IST

  India has received requests for vaccine supply from 22 nations: health ministry

  The Union health ministry said in the Lok Sabha on Friday that India has received vaccine supply request from 22 nations so far. Out of which 15 nations have already been given grant assistance and contract doses, reported news agency ANI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 04:03:47 PM IST

  AstraZeneca applies for emergency approval in Japan

  AstraZeneca announced on Friday that it has applied for an emergency use authorisation in Japan, reported AFP. Becoming the second Pharma company after Pfizer to do so.

• 5 Feb 2021, 02:56:06 PM IST

  Active Covid-19 cases in India falls down to 1.51 lakh

  On Friday, India's total active case load of Covid-19 dropped to 1.51 lakh in the span of 24 hours, which is less than total deaths recorded till date, said an official statement by the Ministry of health and family welfare.

• 5 Feb 2021, 02:19:08 PM IST

  Russia records 16,688 new COVID-19 cases, 527 deaths

  Russia on Friday recorded 16,688 new cases of Covid-19, taking the countrywide toll to 3,934,606. In the same time period 527 deaths were also reported, pushing the death toll to 75,732, reported Reuters.

• 5 Feb 2021, 01:28:10 PM IST

  Germany has witnessed more than 60,000 fatalities since Covid-19 pandemic started

  Germany in the last 24 hours recorded 855 fatalities, pushing its total death toll to 60,597. The number of confirmed cases in Germany rose by 12,908 to 2,264,909 in the same time period, reported news agency ANI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 12:36:12 PM IST

  India records 112 Covid-19 deaths per million, among the lowest in the world

  In the last 24 hours India recorded 120 coronavirus related deaths, with Maharashtra witnessing the highest number of casualties at 46. India now has one of the lowest death rates in the world, at 112 deaths per million.

• 5 Feb 2021, 12:10:24 PM IST

  Gap between recovered and active cases continues to increase

• 5 Feb 2021, 11:19:17 AM IST

  Pfizer withdraws emergency use application in India

  Pharma giant Pfizer announced that it has withdrawn application for Emergency Use Authorisation of its vaccines in India, reported PTI.

• 5 Feb 2021, 10:24:37 AM IST

  New study finds Covid-19 patients are more susceptible to cardiac arrests

  According to research published in the 'European Heart Journal', conducted on Swedish patients, Covid-19 patients who suffer from a heart attack have a higher mortality rate. The mortality rate is higher in women is nine times higher than men.

• 5 Feb 2021, 09:51:54 AM IST

  India's active Covid-19 cases below 152,000

  With a dip of 3,565, India's active Covid-19 cases fall to 151,460. Recoveries at 154,283 with 120 more discharges.

• 5 Feb 2021, 09:34:39 AM IST

  India records 12,408 new Covid-19 cases as tally tops 10.8 million

  India records 12,408 new Covid-19 cases as tally reaches 10,802,591. Death toll at 154,823 with 120 fresh fatalities.

• 5 Feb 2021, 09:14:53 AM IST

  J&J seeks vaccine approval in US

  Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson asked US regulators on Thursday for emergency authorization of its single-shot Covid vaccine.

• 5 Feb 2021, 09:02:39 AM IST

  India's Covid-19 tests close to 200 million

  A total of 199,931,795 samples tested for Covid-19 up to 4th February. Of these, 715,776 samples were tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)

• 5 Feb 2021, 08:24:08 AM IST

  Over 35 million vaccine doses administered in US, says CDC

  The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it has administered 35,203,710 doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country as of Thursday morning and distributed 57,489,675 doses.

• 5 Feb 2021, 07:44:17 AM IST

  20 new Covid-19 cases in China, lowest in nearly a month

  China reports 20 new Covid-19 cases, lowest single-day count in more than a month, as tally reaches 89,669. Death toll unchanged at 4,636.

• 5 Feb 2021, 07:05:52 AM IST

  Phase 2 of vaccination begins in Haryana

  Haryana health minister Anil Vij on Thursday inaugurated second phase of Covid-19 vaccination in Haryana.

• 5 Feb 2021, 06:28:58 AM IST

  Over 1,200 Covid-19 deaths in Brazil for third straight day

  Brazil registers 1,232 deaths, over 1,200 for third straight day, taking death toll to 228,795. National tally at 9,396,293 with 56,873 new cases.