1. India reported a record 49,310 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its overall count to 12,87,945. The country’s toll rose to 30,601 with 740 new deaths. The Union health ministry said the country’s recovery rate is 63.45% while the fatality rate is 2.38%.
  2. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi began India’s first human trials of a coronavirus vaccine. A shot of the Covaxin vaccine was given to a healthy 30-year-old male.
  3. Kerala will not go under a complete lockdown yet, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday. “There were two opinions on a lockdown,” Viayan said after an all-party meeting. “Some experts op complete shut down, while others wanted the existing restrictions to be strengthened. I put forward the same at the all-party-meeting and the representatives were not in favour of the complete lockdown. They said that the current restrictions should be strengthened.” The state has 9,371 active cases and has recorded 54 deaths so far.
  4. Maharashtra on Friday registered 9,615 new coronavirus cases and 278 deaths, taking the state’s total infections to 3,57,117 and the toll to 13,132. Tamil Nadu registered 6,785 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 1,99,749 and the toll to 3,320. Delhi, meanwhile, has 1,28,389 cases and 3,777 deaths so far.
  5. The Centre released a set of guidelines for Independence Day celebrations in the country amid the coronavirus crisis. The government said that the celebrations will take place with proper safety measures and crowd restrictions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the country from the Red Fort in Delhi and unfurl the national flag as per the tradition. About 250 guests have been invited for the prime minister’s address.
  6. As many as 160 inmates at the district jail in the Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district tested positive for the coronavirus. Meanwhile, more than 90 trainees at a police training school near Bengaluru also contracted the infection.
  7. The Delhi Police said that a 14-year-old girl undergoing treatment for the coronavirus at a medical facility in the Capital was allegedly sexually assaulted by another patient. The 19-year-old man and his accomplice have been arrested. The incident took place on July 15.
  8. The Bengaluru civic body faced sharp criticism after its officials sealed two flats in a apartment complex with tin sheets as a resident tested positive for the coronavirus. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said the barricades were removed immediately and apologised for the incident.
  9. World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan warned that the concept of herd immunity, or a large section of the population developing antibodies against Covid-19, is still a distant reality. The scientist said that more waves of the infection would be required to get to a stage of natural immunity.
  10. The global coronavirus count is now over 1.55 crore, and the toll has crossed 6.34 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 88.96 lakh people have recovered so far.