Coronavirus cases continued to rise in India, albeit at a slower pace, at a time the country is preparing for an inoculation drive as soon as a vaccine is ready.
India reported more than 32,000 new cases in the last 24 hours taking the total tally to 97.3 lakh in the world’s second-worst infected nation, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Dec. 9. That includes more than 92 lakh recoveries and 1.41 lakh deaths.
Authorities reported over 36,600 recoveries in a day — the 12th straight day when new cases trailed recoveries. That kept active cases below 4 lakh for the third day in a row.
Key Figures
- Total number of confirmed cases: 97,35,850
- Active cases: 3,78,909
- Cured/discharged/migrated: 92,15,581
- Deaths: 1,41,360
- Number of fresh cases in 24 hours: 32,080
- One-day recoveries: 36,635
- One-day deaths: 402
Global Update
A Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ship returned to Singapore and all passengers were told to stay in their rooms after one tested positive for Covid-19 early Wednesday.
The U.S. regulators gave early indications that they may grant emergency-use authorisation to Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine, calling the shot highly effective with no safety issues. The news came on a day when the number of infections in the U.S. topped 15 million.
Britain became the first country to start administering a Covid vaccine to its population. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned people to keep their “discipline” during the rollout as cases are starting to rise in London. Germany plans to vaccinate as many as 8 million people in the first quarter of 2021.
Globally, cases exceeded 68 million with more than 1.55 million deaths.
