Corona Updates You Must Track: India's COVID-19 Tally Nears 30-Lakh Mark, Maharashtra Records Over 14,500 Cases

India cases and toll: With 68,898 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, India’s coronavirus tally has climbed to 29,05,823. This month, India has recorded the maximum cases of coronavirus globally, more than the US and Brazil which are the worst-hit countries by COVID-19 in terms of overall caseload. According to The Times of India report, while the US has recorded 9.9 lakh cases and Brazil 7.9 lakh till 19 August, India reported 12.1 lakh cases during the same period.  

The country reported 983 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, taking the toll to 54,849, as per the data shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As of Friday morning, India has 6,92,028 active cases while 21,58,946 people have recovered from the illness. A total of 8,05,985 tests for COVID-19 were conducted across the country on Thursday.

Maharashtra records over 14,500 cases in 24 hours: Maharashtra’s fight against the pandemic continues as the western state recorded the maximum number of coronavirus cases in a single day. On Thursday, Maharashtra reported 14,647 cases of coronavirus, taking the state’s overall tally to 6,43,289. The state currently has 1,62,806 active cases of coronavirus while 4,59,124 have recovered from the illness.

A total of 326 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours—the state’s COVID-19 toll stands at 21,359. At 3.3 per cent, the state’s fatality rate for COVID-19 is one of the highest in the country, second only to Gujarat’s 3.4 per cent.

COVID-19 tracker for 21 August. Source: Twitter/@COVIDNewsByMIB

Tracking COVID vaccine development: Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the trials of indigenously-developed vaccines for COVID-19 would be completed by the end of this year. In an interview with Hindustan Times, the Health Minister said. “It is expected that if the vaccine trial results are good, we could be ready to use the vaccine by the first quarter of 2021,” he told HT. COVAXIN, which is developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, might be available by year-end, he said.

Meanwhile, on the global front, the World Health Organization (WHO) is in talks with Russia to obtain more information about the country’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, reported The Guardian. Nearly 40,000 people will be administered the vaccine from next week. The vaccine was earlier formally launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin even before its Phase-3 trials could be done.

Global corona update: The global coronavirus count has reached 2,28,62,465 with 1,55,17,694 recoveries and 7,97,117 deaths, as per Worldometer. There are currently 65,47,654 active cases of coronavirus with 61,848 in critical condition. The US with 57,46,272 cases and 1,77,424 deaths tops the global COVID-19 table, followed by Brazil with 35,05,097 cases and 1,12,423 deaths.

Meanwhile, residents in Beijing, as per the new government guidelines, need not wear a mask when going out as long as they are not in close contact with others. The fresh guidelines were released by the Beijing Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on Thursday, reported CNN.