Here are the top coronavirus developments of the day:

  1. Covid-19 cases continued to decline in Delhi on Friday, as the Capital registered 10,756 new infections in the past 24 hours, The Indian Express reported. Thirty-eight people died due to the coronavirus in Delhi in the past day. Coronavirus cases also declined in Mumbai on Friday. The city registered 5,008 new cases and 12 fatalities. Meanwhile, Karnataka registered 48,049 new coronavirus cases and 22 deaths, state Health Minister Sudhakar K said. 
  2. The Karnataka government on Friday lifted the weekend curfew that was in place in the state to curb the spread of Covid-19, NDTV reported. However, a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will remain in place. On Thursday, the state recorded 47,754 new infections, a steep increase from the previous day’s count of 40,499 cases.
  3. The Union Health Ministry said on Friday that six people can now register themselves on the Co-Win portal with one mobile number, PTI reported. Earlier, four people could be registered using one phone number. The ministry added that a new feature has been introduced on the portal, through which people can correct their vaccination status in case their vaccination certificates are generated due to errors in data entry.
  4. Travellers from any country who test positive for coronavirus upon arriving in Indiawill not mandatorily be kept at an isolation facility, the health ministry has said in a revised set of guidelines. They will be treated according to the standard protocol and can be isolated at home. The new guidelines will be applicable from January 22.
  5. Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Thursday said that the municipal corporation will take a decision on reopening the schools after a review of the coronavirus situation in the city on Saturday, The Indian Express reported. “A total of 3,500 children have tested positive for Covid in the last one month,” he said. “One hundred of them with severe symptoms were hospitalised and 64 are still recovering in hospitals in the city.”
  6. In Kerala’s Ernakulam district, the test positivity rate stood at 45.06% on Thursday, The Hindu reported. A total of 9,605 cases coronavirus cases were reported from the district alone.
  7. India on Friday morning recorded 3,47,254 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection count in the country to 3,85,66,027 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The daily case count on Friday was 9.36% higher than Thursday’s tally of 3,17,532 infections.
  8. The Beijing Winter Olympics torch relay will take will take place at a closed venue owing to concerns about coronavirus, organisers said on Friday, Reuters reported. Beijing has been on a high-alert after witnessing small outbreaks of coronavirus in various parts of the country.
  9. An Argentine research base in Antarctica witnessed an outbreak of coronavirus after nine unvaccinated staffers tested positive for coronavirus, an official said Thursday according to AFP. A total of 23 scientists and army personnel resident at Argentina’s La Esperanza base have been infected.
  10. China on Friday reported the lowest daily tally of locally confirmed Covid-19 cases in nearly two months, Reuters reported.