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India continues its streak of decline in active caseload; at 2.14 lakh after 197 days,15,968 daily new cases registered in the last 24 hours

India’s active caseload has fallen to 2.14 lakh (2,14,507) today. The share of Active Cases in the total Positive Cases has further shrunk to 2.04%. This is lowest after 197 days. The total active cases were 2,15,125 on 30^th June, 2020. A net decline of 2051 cases has been recorded in the total active cases in last 24 hours. The daily cases in India are registering a consistent decline on a daily basis. Less than 16,000 daily new cases (15,968) were added to the national tally in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, 17,817 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours. Recoveries outnumbering new cases have ensured a steady fall in the Active Cases. The total recovered cases stand at 10,129,111 which translates to a Recovery Rate of 95.51%. The gap between Recovered cases and Active cases continues to grow and presently stands at 99,14,604. 81.83% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 States/UTs. Kerala has reported the maximum number of single day recoveries with 4,270 recoveries. Maharashtra follows with 3,282 new recoveries. Chhattisgarh recorded another 1,207 daily recoveries. 74.82% of the new cases are concentrated in 7 States and UTs. Kerala reported the maximum daily new cases numbering 5,507 in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra recorded 2,936 new cases while Karnataka reported 751 new cases yesterday. Seven States/UTs account for 70.30% of the 202 case fatalities reported in the past 24 hours. Maharashtra reported 50 deaths. Kerala and West Bengal follow with 25 and 18 new deaths, respectively. The total number of persons found to be positive with the new UK variant genome stands at 102 today.The COVID-19 vaccination drive is scheduled to kick start from 16^th January, 2021. The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine will provide priority to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers who are estimated to be around 3 cr, followed by those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 cr.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout, As India gears up for COVID19 Vaccine roll out, Centre guides States/UTs on Co-WIN management

The Centre has been proactively carrying activities towards preparing for the nationwide roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine in close collaboration with States/UTs and all stakeholders. The Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Sunday held a VC with administrators from States and UTs on the CoWIN software which forms the backbone of the last mile vaccine administration.The meeting was chaired by Shri Ram Sewak Sharma, Chairman of Empowered Group on Technology and Data Management to combat COVID-19 and member, National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration of COVID-19. The meeting was attended by the State Principal Secretaries, NHM Mission Directors, and State Immunisation officers and senior officers of the Health Ministry. During the meeting the feedback of the States/UTs on the Co-WIN software and its operational use, emanating from the dry runs, was discussed in detail.Shri R. S. Sharma gave an overall view of the Co-WIN software and the principles that shall underpin the technology back-up for the vaccination exercise. He said that robust, dependable and agile technology shall form both the foundation and the back-up for the country’s COVID-19 vaccination which shall be the world’s largest immunisation exercise.

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COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout, Dr Harsh Vardhan interacts with Health Ministers of States/UTs to review preparedness and seek their personal leadership in glitch-free Dry Run of 8th Jan,

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday interacted with the Health Ministers and Principal Secretaries/ Additional Chief Secretaries of the States/UTs to review the preparedness for the nationwide Mock Drill on the COVID vaccination scheduled for 8th January, through video conference.  He also urged for their keen overview and personal indulgence to lead the whole exercise. The second nationwide mock drill on the Covid19 vaccination will be held at three session sites of 736 districts across 33 States/UTs.The objective of the mock drill on COVID19 vaccination is to simulate the actual vaccine administration event. The entire planning of the vaccination drive including beneficiary registration, microplanning and vaccination at the planned session site, will be tested under the leadership of District Collector/District Magistrate. The dry run will also familiarize the State, District, Block and Hospital level officers on all aspects of COVID-19 roll out. This activity will help administrators in strengthening the linkages between planning, implementation and reporting mechanisms, identification of any residual challenges prior to the actual implementation and to provide confidence to the programme managers at all levels to carry out a smooth implementation of the vaccination drive.

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In a massive country-wide exercise, another Mock Drill on COVID19 Vaccine administration to be conducted in all States and UTs on 8th January 2021

The Central Government is gearing up for the roll out of COVID19 vaccine across the country. Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) has been pro-actively carrying out the preparations for roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine, in collaboration with States/UTs and all stakeholders, over the past couple of months to ensure that the preparations for roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine are on track. Two COVID vaccines have been given emergency use authorisation by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) recently. The roll out of COVID-19 vaccine is expected to begin in the near future. This milestone entails the need for testing of all planned mechanisms for conducting the vaccination drive in the country. As a simulation of actual execution, another round of dry run/mock drill in all 700+ districts of all States/UTs (except UP and Haryana who have already conducted/ will be conducting the dry run in all districts on 5th January and 7th January respectively) is planned on 8th January 2021 to ensure efficient planning and management for vaccine delivery in each district of all States/UTs. Each district will identify three types of session sites, similar to the previous dry run including a public health facility (District Hospital/Medical College), private health facility and rural or urban outreach sites.

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PM chairs meeting with CMs on COVID-19 vaccination

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired a high level meeting with Chief Ministers and Administrators of all States and Union Territories to review the status and preparedness for COVID-19 vaccination on 11th January, 2021, via video conferencing. He lauded the constant coordination and communication between the Centre and the States, and timely decision making, which has played a big role in the fight against the virus. As a result, the spread of the virus has been contained vis-a-vis several other countries. Prime Minister noted that the fear and apprehensions that citizens had at the start of the pandemic have now ebbed, and the growing confidence has reflected positively on the economic activities also. He also appreciated the State governments for working zealously in this battle. Prime Minister said that the country is in a decisive phase of this fight, with the start of the world’s biggest vaccination campaign from 16th January. He underlined that it's a matter of pride that both the vaccines for which Emergency Use Authorization has been given are made in India. He highlighted that both the approved vaccines are highly cost effective in comparison to other vaccines from across the world, adding that India would have faced great difficulty if it would have had to depend on foreign vaccines.The Chief Ministers expressed happiness at the rollout of vaccination. They discussed some issues and concerns about vaccines, which were clarified in the meeting.

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Text of PM's closing remarks at meeting with CMs on Covid-19 situation and vaccination rollout

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Prime Minister reviews status of COVID-19 and preparedness for COVID19 vaccination

The Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in the country along with the preparedness of the State/UTs for COVID vaccination, on Saturday. Meeting was attended by Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to PM, Health Secretary, and other senior officials concerned. The Prime Minister took a detailed and comprehensive review of status of COVID management covering various issues. Emergency Use Authorisation or Accelerated Approval has been granted by the National Regulator for two vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) which have established safety & immunogenicity. The Hon’ble PM was also briefed about the preparedness status of the Centre in close collaboration with the State and UT governments for roll out of the vaccine in the near future. The vaccination exercise in underpinned by the principles of people’s participation (Jan Bhagidari); utilizing experience of elections (booth strategy) and Universal Immunization Program (UIP); no compromise of existing healthcare services, especially national programs and primary health care; no compromise on scientific and regulatory norms, other SOPs; and an orderly and smooth implementation driven by technology. The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccine will provide priority to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers who are estimated to be around 3 cr, followed by those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 cr.

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India-Germany Leaders’ Video-Teleconference

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi held a video-teleconference with his German counterpart, Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel on Wednesday. The Prime Minister appreciated the long-standing role of Chancellor Merkel in providing stable and strong leadership at the European and global stage, and thanked her for guiding the growth of the India-Germany Strategic Partnership. The two leaders discussed key issues of mutual importance including the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral ties, regional and global issues, particularly India-EU relations. The Prime Minister briefed Chancellor Merkel on the developments in India with regard to vaccine development and assured Chancellor Merkel of India’s commitment to deploy its capacities for the benefit of the world. He conveyed his best wishes for early containment of the new wave of infections in Germany and other European countries. The Prime Minister welcomed Germany’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA), and expressed his desire to further strengthen cooperation with Germany under the platform of Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

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Ministry of Education issues guidelines for identification, admission and continued education of migrant children

In order to mitigate the impact of challenges thrown by the COVID-19 pandemic for out of school children, it was felt necessary for every State/UT to devise a proper strategy for preventing increased drop outs, lower enrolments, loss of learning and deterioration in the gains made in providing universal access, quality and equity in the recent years.Thus the Ministry of Education had issued guidelines for identification, admission and continued education of migrant children.In order to ensure that school going children have access to education with quality and equity and to minimize the impact of the pandemic on school education across the country, the Ministry of Education has prepared and issued detailed guidelines on steps to be taken by the States and UTs during school closure and when the school re-open.The main features of the Guidelines are: Continued Education for Out of School Children (OoSC) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN), Identifying Out of School Children, Enrolment Drives and Awareness Generation, Student Support while Schools are closed, Student Support on School Reopening, Teacher Capacity Building.

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Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said Corona took India back to its original ethos

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that Corona has enabled us to go back to our original Indian ethos and practices like hand wash and Namaste have come into vogue with greater vigour. He said, Covid has awakened us all on the importance of healthcare as a national priority and also made the world aware of the virtues of social distancing hygiene, cleanliness, yoga, Ayurveda and traditional medicine, etc. Now they have come to trust this much more than earlier on and there is a renewed interest in yoga, Ayurveda etc. which have always been thrust areas for PM Narendra Modi. He was addressing a session with Sadhguru on “Inner Engineering-Technologies for Well Being” at the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) on Saturday

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CBIC introduces flagship LiberalisedAuthorised Economic Operator Package for MSMEs

Recognising their critical contribution in supporting the economy especially during the present difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic, Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has taken a new initiative to introduce its flagship “Liberalised MSME AEO Package” for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

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Health Ministry deploys multi-disciplinary teams to Avian Influenza affected districts in Kerala and Haryana

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has deployed multi-disciplinary teams to Avian Influenza affected Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala, and Panchkula District, Haryana. The Department of Animal Husbandry on 4th January 2021 notified detection of Avian Influenza (H5N8) in samples of dead ducks from Alappuzha and Kottayam districts in Kerala. A similar reports of Avian Influenza has also been received from poultry samples from Panchkula District of Haryana. The two multi-disciplinary teams comprising of experts from National Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Virology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr. RML Hospital, New Delhi and Lady Hardinge Medical College. New Delhi have been deployed to the affected districts by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on 4th January 2021 to assist the State Health Departments in implementation Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s Avian Influenza containment plan. Additionally, a high level team comprising Director, NCDC and Joint Secretary & COVID-19 nodal officer, Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been deployed to Kerala on 6th January 2021 (today) to oversee the implementation of Avian Influenza containment operations and guide State Health Departments in mounting appropriate public health interventions for the same. In addition, this high level team will also review the COVID-19 situation in the State.

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INPUTS FROM PIB FIELD OFFICES

• Arunachal Pradesh:In Arunachal Pradesh, 5 new COVID-19 cases detected on Tuesday. There are 61 active cases in the State.
• Assam: In Assam, total COVID-19 cases rise to 2,16,690 with 55 new cases, total discharged patients 2,12,632 and 1,064 total death.
• Nagaland: In Nagaland, 10 new COVID-19 cases detected on Tuesday. Total cases rise to 11,997.
• Sikkim:In Sikkim, total COVID-19 cases rise to 5,996 with 7 new cases on Tuesday, total discharged patients 5,459, active case 313 and 129 total death.
• Kerala: The first flight carrying COVID vaccines for the first phase of vaccination in Kerala, the first state in the country to report the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, has arrived at Cochin International airport this morning. Kerala will get 4,33,500 doses of Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. The first flight from Pune carried the vaccine doses for Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts. The vaccine for Thiruvananthapuram will arrive later today. These vaccines will be stored in Regional Vaccine stores in the three districts.  While Thiruvananthapuram will receive 1,34,000 doses of the vaccine, Ernakulam and Kozhikode will receive 1,80,000 and 1,19,500 doses respectively. So far, 3,62,870 people have registered themselves for the vaccination, which will commence from January 16. A total of 133 Centres has been set up across the state. 100 doses will be provided a day in each centres. State Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has stated that depending on the availability of the vaccine, the number of shots and centers will be increased.
•  Tamil Nadu: As on date, Tamil Nadu recorded 8,27,614 total cases, 12,236 deaths, 6,807 Active cases and 8,08,571 discharges.
• Karnataka: As on date, Karnataka recorded 9,28,806 total cases, 12,149 deaths, 8,909 Active cases and 9,07,729 discharges.
• Andhra Pradesh: Andhra Pradesh received its first consignment of coronavirus vaccine on Tuesday, the same day when Pune-based Serum Institute of India dispatched first batches of Covishield—one of the two vaccines approved for emergency use in India. Around 4.77 lakh doses were received as the nation readies to begin the ‘biggest vaccination drive’ this Saturday. The vials were taken to the State Cold Storage Centre at Gannavaram Community Health Centre under high security. A total of 4,97,000 vials have been sanctioned to the state for the first phase. As many as 3.8 lakh health workers—including Integrated Child Development Services staff—are set to get immunised at 332 session sites in the first phase.Later, the process will be followed for nine lakh frontline workers such as state and Central government employees, Armed forces personnel, home guards, prison staff, disaster management volunteers, civil defence staff, municipal workers and revenue employees. Then, 90 lakh people above the age of 50 years and with co-morbidities will be inoculated against Covid-19. Village volunteers have been instructed to conduct a door-to-door survey for preparation of a database of co-morbid persons. State has one state and four regional cold storage centre (one each at Kurnool, Kadapa, Guntur and Visakhapatnam), 13 district vaccine storage units and 1,659 cold chain points. Meanwhile, Covid-19 cases in the Andhra Pradesh went up to 8,85,234 as on Tuesday.  The total recoveries have touched 8,75,690 and deaths 7,133, leaving 2,411 active cases.  The overall positivity rate in the state dropped to 7.14 per cent after a total of 1.23 crore sample tests.
• Telangana: All arrangements have been made in Telangana for the ensuring the proper implementation of Covid vaccination programme which it to begin on 16th of this month. Chief Minister Shri K.Chandrasekhar Rao participated in the video conference of PM with all states’ CMs on 11th of this month and held a review meeting with the all Ministers and District Collectors on the same day and took stock of the ground situation. A total of 3.64 lakh doses of COVISHIELD vaccine have reached Hyderabad from Serum Institute of India, Pune on Tuesday and they will be sent to 866 Cold Chain Units in the state by Thursday evening. On the first day i.e. on 16th of this month – vaccination will begin in 139 selected centres and as many as 30 people will be vaccinated in these centres on the first day and number of beneficiaries and centres will be increased gradually. Two Vaccination Centres – i.e. Gandhi Hospital, Hyderabad and Narsingi Primary Health Centre in Ranga Reddy district - have been selected for PM’s interaction with health staff through video conferencing slated on the 16th. The state Health Department has kept ready 1200 beds in 235 hospitals (57 Govt and 178 Private hospitals) and 720 ambulances in the state to treat the people in case of adverse events following immunization.  Health Minister Shri EetalaRajender has written a letter to all Sarpanches (Gram Panchayat Presidents) in the state urging them to actively involve themselves in vaccination programme and ensure that the registered persons reach the Vaccination Centre as per schedule so that the vaccination programme goes off smoothly. Chief Secretary held a teleconference with all District Collectors on Tuesday to review the arrangements done for vaccination programme. Total number of Covid cases in the state stands at 2,90,640 and number of fatalities at 1,571. Number of recoveries reached 2,84,611. While number of active cases in the state is 4,458 out of which 2,461 are in home isolation.
• Maharashtra: 9.63 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine have been received in the state. The first consignment of Covishield vaccine arrived in Mumbai today. In all, 1,39,500 doses of the vaccine were received. The consignment of the vaccines is stored at the storage facility at F/South Ward Office situated in Parel and it will be delivered across the Mumbai at designated Vaccination Centres for national inoculation drive set on 16th January. Health Minister Rajesh Tope has said that the preparations for the launching of the drive are in full swing and all arrangements have been done for the drive. He said more than seven lakh 84 thousand health workers are registered on COWIN portal and the doses will be administered to those workers who have been registered till last midnight. Vaccination will be done across 511 centres in the next three months. Maharashtra’s Health Secretary Pradeep Vyas has said that a minimum of 100 people will be vaccinated at each of these centres which have been set up at primary healthcare units, district and civic hospitals across the state. At 72, Mumbai has the largest number of vaccinationcentres followed by Pune which has 55 centres while Thane has 42, Nashik 23 and Ahmednagar 21 centres. 17,749 people from Maharashtra have registered as vaccinators on the COWIN app.Maharashtra recorded 2,936 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, taking the state’s tally of total cases to 19,74,488. According to the state’s public health department,3,282 patients were discharged on the same day, taking the total number of recoveries to 18,71,270. With 50 fatalities, the state's death toll has risen to 50,151. The number of active cases in the state stand at 51,892. Maharashtra’s recovery rate stands at 94.77 percent while the case fatality rate stands at 2.54 percent. Maharashtra has conducted 1.35 crore tests so far and the positivity rate stands at 14.63 percent. With 473 new cases, Mumbai’s caseload has increased to 2,99,799. The city reported 441 recoveries and seven deaths during the day.
• Gujarat: In Gujarat, the first batch of vaccine with two lakh 76 thousand doses reached Ahmedabad airport Tuesday morning from Pune. State Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel along with senior officials of the Health Department received the first batch of vaccines. The first batch of vaccine received from Pune Institute have been preserved at the Regional Storage Centre in Gandhinagar. Apart from Gandhinagar, similar Regional Storage Centres have been set up at Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat and Bhavnagar. Each Regional Centre has a capacity to preserve and store eight to ten lakh vaccine doses. First Phase of vaccination will begin at 256 booths across the state on Saturday. Health workers and frontline Corona Warriors will be vaccinated during the First Phase. Meanwhile, Gujarat has recorded 602 new cases of Covid 19 during the last 24 hours. According to the state health department, the recovery rate has further improved to 95.34 percent. The total number of Covid 19 cases detected so far in Gujarat has reached up to 2 lakh 53 thousand 161. Out of these, 2 lakh 41 thousand 372 patients recovered. 855 patients recovered during the last 24 hours.  Maximum 133 new cases reported from Ahmedabad, while Surat recorded 121 new cases. At present total active cases in the state are 7439.
• Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh is all set to launch Covid Vaccination from January 16 along with the rest of the country. 5.06 lakh doses of vaccine have been received in the state today, which will be kept in 1,200 storage systems at state level. The vaccine will go to 8 zillas after the quantity has been decided, said Dr Santosh Shukla, State immunisation officer, Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile the state reported 471 corona-positive cases on Tuesday. In the first phase of Covid vaccination, 4 lakh 16 thousand health workers have been registered including 85 thousand private health workers along with all government health workers. The work of registration for Covid vaccination of frontline workers, including police personnel, security personnel, home guards and sanitation workers is underway. The last date of registration is January 25. Meanwhile the Covid positive rate has gone down below 2 per cent on Tuesday. The Covid positive rate was 1.9 per cent. Consistently, the number of corona-positive cases is declining in the state. The two major cities Bhopal and Indore reported below 100 covid cases on Tuesday. Indore reported 76 covid -positive cases, while Bhopal reported 97 covid-positive cases.
• Chhattisgarh - Chhattisgarh reported 729 positive cases on Tuesday, which takes the tally of positive cases to 2,90,813. On the same day, 1039 patients recovered from the infection, which takes the total recoveries to 2,79,236. While 10 deaths also occurred on Tuesday, the total active cases at present are 8060. Raipur reported the maximum number, that is, 121 cases, followed by Durg at 102 cases. 
• Rajasthan:  Rajasthan received its first consignment of 20,000 Covid-19 doses today afternoon. The vaccine was packed in three boxes which were transported to the state level storage centre in Jaipur. Rajasthan reports 429 new COVID-19 cases, 568 recoveries and 2 deaths on Tuesday. There are 6585 active cases at present. Total cases have touched 3,13,425, while total recoveries stand at 3,04,104 now. Also, 2736 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in all.
• Goa: The first lot of COVID 19 vaccine for Goa has reached today early morning. The two boxes carrying 2350 vials with 10 doses each, totaling 23,500 shots of the vaccine has been handed over to the Health Department officials.The vaccines are being stored appropriately by the authorities, and would be distributed to all centres 24 hours prior to vaccination day, stated Goa CM Pramod Sawant. With the report of 92 new cases in Goa on Tuesday, the total cases have gone up to 51,983. This apart, 94 recoveries and no death have also been reported on the same day. With this, the number of recoveries has gone up to 50,437, while the recovery rate in the state is 97.03%. There are 797 active cases at present.

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