Coronavirus LIVE Updates | India recorded 35,551 new COVID-19 infections and 526 fresh deaths on Thursday, as per data from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The country's COVID-19 tally, meanwhile, has reached 95,34,965 and the total number of fatalities mounted to 1,38,122.

However, the total active caseload has significantly dropped to 4,22,965 lakh, said the Ministry, adding that the country reported 40,726 new discharges in the last 24 hours.

The UK on Wednesday became the first Western nation to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, vaulting past the US and the European Union in the race to approve a vaccine, months into a pandemic that has killed almost 1.5 million people worldwide. The Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is the first one in the UK to be approved for use, with hopes people can start receiving the injection within a week.

Here are LIVE Updates:

- 48 NBA Players Positive for Coronavirus as Testing Resumes | The NBA said Wednesday that 48 players have tested positive for the coronavirus since testing resumed last week. The league and National Basketball Players Association said 546 players were tested between Nov. 24-30 in the initial phase of testing after returning to team markets. That means about 9% of the tests were positive.

- Total number of samples tested up to December 2 is 14,35,57,647, including 11,11,698 samples tested yesterday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday.

- 526 Fresh Fatalities in India | With 35,551 new COVID-19 infections, India's total cases rise to 95,34,965 on Thursday. The country has recorded 526 fresh deaths as the toll mounted to 1,38,648.

- In the last 24 hours, India recorded 40,726 discharges and the total active cases dropped further to 4,22,943. The total discharged cases stand at 89,73,373

- COVID-19 Daily Update

The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, announced on Thursday that the first delivery of the Pfizer vaccine will be enough for 170,000 New Yorkers.

- British Prime Minister said on Wednesday it would be some months before all the most vulnerable people received COVID-19 vaccines with England’s health service boss saying the bulk of the jabs would be given between January and April.

- "Help is on the way," UK's Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced after the country's regulators granted emergency authorisation for a vaccine made by US pharma giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

- Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla hailed the emergency authorisation as "a historic moment in the fight against Covid-19." "We believe it is really the start of the end of the pandemic," BioNTech CEO Ugur Sahin told CNN.

- India reported 36,604 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data on Wednesday night.

- The overall coronavirus cases reached 94,99,414, including 4,28,644 active cases and 89,32,647 recoveries. With 501 new deaths, the cumulative toll mounted to 1,38,122.

- Meanwhile, the total active caseload has significantly dropped to 4.28 lakh, the lowest after 132 days, said the Ministry.

- Following an emergency meeting with the US health regulator’s advisory committee, Moderna Inc announced that its COVID-19 vaccine could be approved for emergency use within 24 to 72 hours.

- Odisha's COVID-19 tally mounted to 3,19,583 on Wednesday as 480 more people tested positive for the disease, while six fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,750, a health department official said.

- As many as 660 patients recovered from the infection taking the number of cured people to 3,13,394, which is 98.06 per cent of Odisha's caseload.

- Assam's COVID-19 death toll increased to 983 with two more persons succumbing to the disease on Wednesday, while 173 new cases took the tally to 2,13,171, Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

- Sarma said that 138 patients were cured of the infection during the day, taking the total number of recoveries to 2,08,666. The recovery rate in the state is currently 97.88 per cent.

Total number of samples tested up to 2nd December is 14,35,57,647 including 11,11,698 samples tested yesterday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) pic.twitter.com/5JI75d6ULk

— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2020