NEW DELHI, Jan 4: Thirty-eight people have so far tested positive for the new UK variant Coronavirus in India, the union health ministry said on Monday. “All these people have been kept in single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments and their close contacts have also been put under quarantine,” the ministry said. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.
India recorded 16,505 new Covid cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Monday, taking the total number of infections to over 1.03 crore. Active cases further dropped to 2.43 lakh, while with 19,557 recoveries in the last 24 hours, recoveries continued to rise and stood at over 99.46 lakh. A total of 214 deaths were reported on Sunday, the toll currently stands at over 1.49 lakh.
All educational institutions in Bihar, including schools, colleges and coaching centres reopened on Monday after a gap of over nine months. Physical classes were held for students of standards 9-12 in schools and final year students in colleges. The institutions were closed since March 14 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Wearing of masks, use of hand sanitiser and maintenance of physical distancing have been made mandatory at the educational institutions. Schools have been asked to operate at half the strength to ensure social distancing in classes.
In the UK where inoculating its citizens with the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine began on Monday, the first shot was given to Brian Pinker, an 82-year-old dialysis patient, at a hospital a few hundred metres away from where the vaccine was developed.
Pinker, a retired maintenance manager, paid tribute to the scientists who had developed the shot, saying he was looking forward to celebrating his wedding anniversary.
“I am so pleased to be getting the COVID vaccine today and really proud that it is one that was invented in Oxford,” he said in a statement.
(Manas Dasgupta)