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.

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.

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Earlier, on Thursday, the government said that healthcare workers will be administered second dose of Covid-19 vaccine from February 13. India started the world’s largest vaccination drive against Covid-19 on January 16, and 30 million healthcare workers are to be inoculated in the first phase. In the second phase, 270 million people, including senior citizens, will be vaccinated. India is using vaccines developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca (Covishield) and Bharat Biotech International Limited (Covaxin). Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is manufacturing Covishield in the country, while Covaxin is its first indigenous vaccine against the disease.

Follow all the updates here:

• Feb 05, 2021 11:01 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 10:49 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 10:33 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 10:05 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 09:28 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 08:51 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 08:30 PM IST

  Maharashtra home minister tests Covid positive

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

• Feb 05, 2021 08:05 PM IST

  Manipur logs 11 new Covid cases

  Manipur reports 11 new #COVID19 cases and 11 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
  
  Total cases: 29,110
  Total recoveries: 28,625
  Death toll: 372
  
  Active cases: 113 pic.twitter.com/pMvLtNcWbZ

  — ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2021

• Feb 05, 2021 07:16 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 07:09 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 06:49 PM IST

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

  Schools to re-open for students of std 6-8 from 10th February and for students of std 1-5 from 1st March. #COVID19 protocol to be followed: Uttar Pradesh Government

  — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) February 5, 2021

  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.

• Feb 05, 2021 06:25 PM IST

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

  Andhra Pradesh reports 97 new #COVID19 cases, 179 recoveries and 1 death in the last 24 hours.
  
  Total cases 8,88,275
  Total recoveries 8,80,046
  Death toll 7158
  
  Active cases 1071 pic.twitter.com/POXoLpSOxh

  — ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2021

• Feb 05, 2021 05:47 PM IST

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

  Delhi reports 154 new #COVID19 cases, 140 recoveries and 2 deaths in the last 24 hours.
  
  Total cases: 6,35,793
  Total recoveries: 6,23,714
  Death toll:10,873
  
  Active cases: 1,206 pic.twitter.com/559zvgV0y9

  — ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2021

• Feb 05, 2021 04:52 PM IST

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

  We've received requests for vaccine supply from 22 nations so far. Out of these, supply has already been made to 15 nations - as grant assistance as well as contract doses. 56 lakh doses given as grant assistance & 105 lakh as contracts doses: Union Health Minister in Lok Sabha pic.twitter.com/uh2RrsPFWT

  — ANI (@ANI) February 5, 2021

  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.

• Feb 05, 2021 04:03 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 02:56 PM IST

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

  #COVID19India updates
  
  ✅Active Cases slide further down to 1.51 lakh
  
  ✅Nearly 50 lakh beneficiaries so far vaccinated against #COVID19 #IndiaFightsCorona #LargestVaccineDrive

  — PIB India (@PIB_India) February 5, 2021

  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.

• Feb 05, 2021 02:19 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 01:28 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 12:36 PM IST

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

  #IndiaFightsCorona:
  
  India’s 112 deaths per million population are also amongst the lowest in the world.#Unite2FightCorona #IndiaWillWin@ICMRDELHI pic.twitter.com/EGR2ngo65g

  — #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) February 5, 2021

  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.

• Feb 05, 2021 12:10 PM IST

  Gap between recovered and active cases continues to increase

  #IndiaFightsCorona:
  
  📍 Increasing gap between #COVID19 Recovered & Active cases of India (June 01, 2020 to February 05, 2021)👇#StaySafe #IndiaWillWin #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/t1DmlIGtqW

  — #IndiaFightsCorona (@COVIDNewsByMIB) February 5, 2021

• Feb 05, 2021 11:19 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 10:24 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 09:51 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 09:34 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 09:14 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 09:02 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)

• Feb 05, 2021 08:24 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 07:44 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.

• Feb 05, 2021 07:05 AM IST

  Phase 2 of vaccination begins in Haryana

  Haryana: State Health Min Anil Vij inaugurates second phase of COVID vaccination drive in Gurugram(4.2.21)
  
  "In this phase, we'll vaccinate about one lakh security forces personnel including the police & home guard. People should not be afraid of getting the vaccination," he says pic.twitter.com/wM6JXNASGV

  — ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2021

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

• Feb 05, 2021 06:28 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.