Corona Updates You Must Track: Vaccine May Be Available By Early 2021, Says Health Minister; India Tally At 52.14 Lakh

India cases and toll: India reported 96,424 cases of coronavirus and 1,174 deaths in 24 hours, between 8 am Thursday and 8 am Friday. This takes India’s coronavirus tally to 52,14,677, which includes 84,372 deaths, as per the data shared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Of the total caseload, 10,17,754 are active cases while 41,12,551 are recoveries. India conducted 10,06,615 COVID-19 tests on Thursday.

Tracking COVID-19 vaccine progress: Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Thursday that a vaccine to fight COVID-19 could be available by early next year. However, it would take time before the vaccine reaches the public, he added. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, the health minister said that wearing masks, following “hygiene protocols” and adhering to social distancing norms can break the chain of transmission.

Where Delhi stands: The national capital has been recording more than 4,000 daily cases since the last few days. On Thursday, Delhi reported 4,432 cases of coronavirus and 38 deaths—the COVID-19 fatalities in the last 24 hours are among the highest in Delhi in the last two months. Delhi’s coronavirus count has reached 2,34,701 with 31,721 active cases, 1,98,103 recoveries and 4,877 deaths.

COVID-19 tracker for 18 September. Source: Twitter/@COVIDNewsByMIB

How is Maharashtra faring: With 24,619 cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra’s COVID-19 tally rose to 11,45,840. A total of 468 COVID-19 deaths were added to the tally; of these, 398 were reported in the last 24 hours while the remaining 70 deaths took place earlier but were accounted for on Thursday.

Maharashtra currently has 3,02,135 active cases of COVID-19 while 8,12,354 people have recovered from the disease. The COVID-19 death toll has reached 31,351. Maharashtra’s overall caseload and deaths are more than Russia’s, which is the fourth worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic. Russia has, so far, reported 10,85,281 COVID-19 cases, including 19,061 deaths, as per Worldometer.

Global corona update: The global coronavirus tally has climbed to 3,03,56,634 with 73,59,865 active cases, 2,20,46,144 recoveries and 9,50,625 deaths, according to Worldometer. Of the total active cases, 61,131 are in serious or critical condition.

The US continues to lead the global tally with 68,74,596 COVID-19 cases and 2,02,213 deaths. At a townhall organized by ABC this week, US President Donald Trump said the virus would go away eventually, as people would develop “herd mentality”.