Coronavirus Cases In India: The country has reported 1,48,153 deaths so far. (File)
New Delhi:
The daily new coronavirus infections in India dipped below 20,000 for the third time this month taking the COVID-19 caseload to 1,02,24,303, while the recoveries crossed 98 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
A total of 16,432 new infections were reported in a span of 24 hours, the lowest in little over six months, while the death count increased to 1,48,153 with 252 new fatalities, the updated data showed.
Six cases of a mutant strain of coronavirus that first surfaced in the UK, have been detected in the country. The new strain is believed to be 70 per cent more infectious, but doctors have said there is no reason yet to believe that it is more lethal or will not be controlled by a vaccine. All six patients have recently returned from the UK, where cases have spiralled within days.
Three of the patients are in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, two in Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and one in National Institute of Virology, Pune.
All patients have been kept in “single room isolation” in designated healthcare facilities by the state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been started for co-travellers, their families and others, the government said.
Here are the LIVE updates on Coronavirus Cases:
The US state of Colorado has recorded what is reportedly America’s first case of the particularly infectious coronavirus variant that emerged recently in Britain, the governor said Tuesday.
“Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the UK,” state governor Jared Polis tweeted.
He attached an official statement from his office and state health officials that said the individual is a “male in his 20s who is currently in isolation in Elbert County and has no travel history.”
The individual had no close contacts, the statement said, but the situation will continue to be monitored “very closely” and authorities are working to identify other potential cases through contact tracing.
