Coronavirus Live Updates: Centre asks states to ensure availability of oxygen, functional ventilators

As hospitals and morgues in China are overwhelmed by millions of Covid cases, official data projected that millions have been infected since December 1 while the government has permitted the opening up of "Internet Hospitals" for the affected people to seek medical help to reduce the overload on clinics. There were nearly 37 million new infections nationwide as of Tuesday this week, officials cited data, highlighting for the first time the surge in cases across the country.

Hong Kong will reopen its borders with mainland China by mid-January, city Chief Executive John Lee said on Saturday, as Beijing accelerates the unwinding of stringent COVID-19 rules that have battered economic growth. Lee, speaking at a press event at the airport in Hong Kong as he returned from a trip to Beijing, said the goal in "gradually, orderly, and fully" reopening the city will be to return the border to its state before the virus outbreak.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday appealed to the people not to panic but exercise caution, amid rise in Covid-19 cases in certain countries and said his government has taken adequate measures to manage the situation. Speaking to reporters, Bommai said, “We will continuously monitor the situation, but there is no need to panic. Only thing is that people should be cautious. The government, people, organisations and the society have to face Covid together.”

The Centre should issue "mandatory" protocols to prevent spread of Covid-19 and everyone, be it a political party or someone taking out a march, must follow them, the AAP said on Saturday in a veiled reference to Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' led by Rahul Gandhi.

With some countries witnessing a surge in Covid cases, the Centre on Saturday urged states and union territories to ensure the availability of Liquid Medical Oxygen, adequate inventory of cylinders and functional life support equipment such as ventilators at hospitals to face any challenge.

China's state media is struggling and censors are working overtime as Beijing gropes for a coherent narrative in the wake of the sudden reversal of its hallmark zero-Covid policy. For years, the country's propaganda apparatus hailed zero-Covid as proof of the superiority of the Communist Party's authoritarian rule and the wisdom of powerful President Xi Jinping.

Yao Ruyan paced frantically outside the fever clinic of a county hospital in China’s industrial Hebei province, 70 kilometers (43 miles) southwest of Beijing. Her mother-in-law had Covid and needed urgent medical care, but all hospitals nearby were full.

The random coronavirus testing of international passengers arriving at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport began on Saturday as the authorities stepped up measures to prevent possible spread of the virus in the country.

Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren is likely to hold a high-level meeting on December 26 to review the state government's preparations for Covid-19 situation, an official said on Saturday.

The random coronavirus testing of international arriving passengers started at Delhi airport on Saturday as the authorities step up measures to prevent possible spread of the infection in the country. Two per cent of passengers arriving in each international flight will be subject to random coronavirus testing at airports from Saturday.

Half a million people in a single Chinese city are being infected with Covid-19 every day, a senior health official has said, in a rare and quickly censored acknowledgement that the country's wave of infections is not being reflected in official statistics.