Coronavirus: Centre allows OCI card holders from Germany, US, UK and France to visit India

11 pm: Here are the top updates of the day.

10.05 pm: Andhra Pradesh breaches the two lakh mark in coronavirus cases, reports ANI. The state’s tally rises to 2,06,960 after 1,20,464 recoveries and 1,842 deaths. The number of active cases stands at 84,654.

9.58 pm: Maharashtra’s coronavirus tally rises to 4,90,262 after 10,483 new cases, reports PTI. The toll in the state goes up by 300 to 17,092.

9.57 pm: Toll in West Bengal rises to 1,954 after 52 deaths, and 2,912 new infections takes state’s case count to 89,666, reports PTI.

9.55 pm: Madhya Pradesh’s coronavirus tally rises to 37,298, with 734 new cases. The toll in the state rises to 962 after 16 more deaths, PTI reports, citing the health department.

9.38 pm: Mumbai’s coronavirus case tally goes up to 1,21,027 with 862 new cases. The city’s toll rises to 6,690 after 45 deaths, reports PTI, citing the city’s civic body.

7.32 pm: Tamil Nadu records 5,880 new coronavirus cases and 119 deaths on Friday. The state’s tally rises to 2,85,024 and the toll reaches 4,690.

7.28 pm: The Ministry of Home Affairs allows the entry of Overseas Citizenship of India cardholders from countries having “air bubble” arrangements with India.

7.08 pm: The coronavirus lockdown in Nagaland’s capital Kohima will be lifted from August 8.

7.01 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi slum records seven new cases on Friday, taking its overall count to 2,604. PTI reports. Presently, the area has only 80 active cases.

6.59 pm: Mizoram’s coronavirus tally rises to 558 with 19 new cases on Friday. The state has reported no deaths.

6.56 pm: Jammu and Kashmir records 473 new coronavirus cases on Friday. The Union Territory’s tally rises to 23,927. The toll stands at 449.

6.52 pm: Delhi reports 1,192 new cases and 23 deaths on Friday. The Capital’s tally rises to 1,42,723 and the toll reaches 4,082.

6.49 pm: Bengaluru’s Manipal Hospital says Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is stable and responding well to coronavirus treatment.

6.42 pm: Gavi says the coronavirus vaccine which it will develop in partnership with the Serum Institute of India and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation will be priced at $3 dollars (Rs 224.90) at the maximum and made available to 92 countries, ANI reports.

5.05 pm: The Reserve Bank of India has set up an expert committee under veteran banker KV Kamath to suggest financial parameters for resolution of coronavirus-related stressed assets, reports PTI.

5.02 pm: The Madhya Pradesh government has relaxed night curfew by two hours and restrictions will now apply from 10 pm to 5 am, reports PTI. The weekend lockdown has also been partially lifted in coronavirus-affected districts of state.

4.00 pm: Eleven employees of the Assam Legislative Assembly tested positive for Covid-19 in a single day, PTI reports. This came ahead of the commencement of a session from August 31. The Assembly administration is testing all its employees with the help of the health department.

“We are conducting rapid antigen tests on all our employees,” Assembly Principal Secretary Mrigendra Kumar Deka says. “In three days till Thursday, 270 of our staff were tested, of which 11 tested positive for the infection on the previous day.”

3.54 pm: Switzerland says it is close to signing a deal to secure access for a coronavirus vaccine being developed by US biotech firm Moderna, Reuters reports.

3.51 pm: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is clinically stable and responding to treatment, ANI reports, quoting a statement from the Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru. “He is comfortable and his appetite has improved,” the statement adds. “Our team of experts will continue to monitor him closely.”

3.49 pm: Bihar registers 3,646 new coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total tally of infections in the state to 71,794, ANI reports, quoting the health department.

2.22 pm: Delhi Employment Minister Gopal Rai says 8.64 lakh job aspirants have registered with the government’s “Rozgar Bazaar” job portal, which has set up a “new model of employment” to recover from the economic impact of the coronavirus, PTI reports. Rai adds there are currently nine lakh vacancies available on the portal, where 6,271 companies, including Flipkart, Amazon and HDFC Bank, have made registrations.

2.18 pm: Travel Agents Association of India has alleged that Air India is allowing travel agents to sell seats only on select flights under the “Vande Bharat Mission” and “other inventories have been blocked”, PTI reports. In a statement issued on Thursday, it alleged that at a juncture when economies are trying to revive and come back on their feet, Air India continues to play “monopolistic”.

2.13 pm: Meghalaya’s tally of coronavirus cases crosses the 1,000-mark on Friday, after 13 more people tested positive for the disease, PTI reports. The state’s total tally of infections is now 1,003. Of these, 587 are active.

2.09 pm: Himachal Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases stands at 3,061 as of Friday, ANI reports. Of these, 1,124 cases are active and the toll from the disease is 12.

2.05 pm: The Raj Bhawan of Himachal Pradesh cancels all engagements and appointments of Governor Bandaru Dattatreya as a precautionary measure, after Power Minister Sukh Ram Chaudhary tested positive for the coronavirus, ANI reports. Chaudhary was administered oath by the governor on July 30.

2.01 pm: Puducherry registers 244 new coronavirus, 77 recoveries and five deaths on Friday, ANI reports, quoting the health department. With this, the total tally of infections in the Union Territory rises to 4,862 and the toll stands at 75. A total of 2,914 people have recovered so far.

1.56 pm: Serum Institute of India says it has entered into a partnership with the international vaccine alliance Gavi, and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to accelerate the manufacturing and delivery of up to 100 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines for India and other low income countries, ANI reports.

The funding will support at-risk manufacturing by SII for candidate vaccines from AstraZeneca and Novavax, which will be available for procurement if they are successful in attaining full licensure and WHO prequalification, the Serum Institute of India adds.

12.50 pm: Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan appeals to people to give their correct personal information while getting themselves tested for the coronavirus. He says that in many cases, the administration finds it difficult to locate a Covid-19 positive person to take them to hospital as they are not giving the correct address or contact numbers. “This not only creates difficulty for admin whereas it also keeps one’s life in danger,” he adds.

12.42 pm: Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal along with his staff members quarantine themselves as a precautionary measure, after the state’s power minister Sukh Ram Chaudhry tested positive for coronavirus, PTI reports.

12.37 pm: Bharatiya Janata Party MP CM Ramesh says he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “Whilst I am doing fine, I am being under isolation on the recommendation of doctors,” he adds.

12.30 pm: The Delhi High Court allows the Delhi University to conduct Online Open Book Examination for final year students amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Indian Express reports.

12.29 pm: The Delhi government extends the timings for opening of liquor shops in the national Capital by one hour, PTI reports. According to an order issued by the excise department on Thursday, liquor shops in the city will now open from 10 am to 10 pm instead of the earlier timing of 10 am to 9 pm.

11.32 am: The Bombay High Court quashes Maharashtra government orders restricting TV, film artistes above the age of 65 from attending studio/outdoor shoots, reports PTI.

11.17 am: Odisha reports 1,833 new cases, taking the state’s total number of infections to 42,550.

11.07 am: Rajasthan registers 422 new coronavirus cases and six deaths till 10.30 am on Friday, ANI reports, quoting the state health department. With this, the state’s total tally of infections rises to 49,418 and the toll stands at 763.

10.57 am: The Manipur government extends complete lockdown in the entire state till August 15 or until further orders, reports Imphal Free Press. Only home delivery of essential commodities; collection, processing, distribution and sale of milks and milk products will be allowed. Retail shops selling essential items like grocery, vegetables, fruits, milk booths, poultry meat and fish will be opened in all districts from 8 am to noon on all days except Sundays.

10.38 am: Telangana recorded the highest number coronavirus cases on Thursday after 2,207 people tested positive, reports The Hindu. With this, the total number of cases has risen to 75,257.

10.37 am: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation says that 14-day home quarantine for all domestic passengers arriving in Mumbai is compulsory to tackle the coronavirus crisis, reports ANI. The civic body adds that government officials wanting an exemption from this must write to it two days prior to the arrival.

10.35 am: Former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is under home quarantine as a precautionary measure after the state power minister tested positive for the coronavirus, reports PTI.

9.50 am: India’s total count is now 20,27,074 including over 6 lakh active cases.

9.47 am: India’s tally crosses the 20-lakh mark on Friday as the country reports a record 62,538 new cases in the last 24 hours. The toll rises by 886 to 41,585.

8.54 am: India on Thursday tested 5,74,783 samples, says the Indian Council of Medical Research.

8.53 am: Rahul Gandhi takes a dig at the Centre as India’s tally nears 20 lakh.

8.12 am: Facebook allows its employees to work from home until July 2021, reports Reuters. The social media giant will give the employees $1,000 for home office needs.

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7.50 am: The US registers over 2,000 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest number of daily fatalities in three months, according to Johns Hopkins University. The last time the US recorded more than 2,000 deaths in 24 hours was on May 7.

7.49 am: Mexico’s toll crosses 50,000, according to AFP.

7.47 am: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro sets aside $360 million for AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, reports Reuters.

7.35 am: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hopes the United States will reconsider its departure from the UN health agency, reports AP. Adhanom Ghebreyesus adds that the virus cannot be defeated in a divided world. “When I was a minister in Ethiopia, HIV/AIDS was ravaging the whole continent of Africa,” he remembers. “It’s the US generosity and leadership that gave hope to individuals, gave hope to families and gave hope to nations.”

7.34 am: Africa now has over 1 million cases, reports AP.

7.26 am: The United States has rescinded its warnings to Americans against all international travel, saying conditions no longer warrant a blanket worldwide alert, reports AP. This comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifted “do not travel” warnings for about 20 locations but advised staying away from the vast majority of the world.

7.25 am: Here are the top updates from Thursday

• India registered 56,282 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the total number of infections to 19,64,536. The toll rose by a record 904 to 40,699.
• The Centre released Rs 890.32 crore as the second tranche of the Covid-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package to 22 states and Union Territories. The amount provided to each state and Union Territory will be based on their caseload.
• The Reserve Bank of India Monetary Policy Committee kept both the repo rate and the reverse repo rate unchanged. The repo rate stayed at 4% and the reverse repo rate at 3.3%. It was widely expected that the RBI would either cut the key rates or keep them steady, due to rising inflation and grim projections of economic growth rate, to due the lockdown announced to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
• Maharashtra reported its biggest one-day rise of 11,514 coronavirus cases, taking its tally to 4,79,779. The state’s toll rose by 316 to 16,792. Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 tally rose to 2,79,144, including 4,571 deaths, 53,846 active cases and 2,21,087 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh’s tally, meanwhile, inched closer to 2 lakh with over 10,000 new cases. The state’s tally stood at 1.96 lakh and toll at 2,897.
• Eight patients in the Intensive Care Unit of a private Covid-19 designated hospital in Ahmedabad died in a fire.
• Indian drugmaker Novavax on Wednesday said it has entered a supply and licence agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the development and commercialisation of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The company will have exclusive rights for the vaccine in India during the term of the deal and non-exclusive rights during the “Pandemic Period” in all countries other than those designated by the World Bank as upper-middle or high-income countries.
• Drug maker Zydus Cadila said it will start the second phase of clinical trials of its vaccine candidate from Thursday. The company had received the central drugs controller’s approval for human trials on July 2.
• US biotechnology company Moderna’s vaccine protected mice from getting infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. The findings by scientists, including those from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US, show that the vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, induced neutralising antibodies in mice when given as two intramuscular injections of a 1-microgramme dose three weeks apart.
• The global coronavirus count crossed 1.88 crore, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The toll rose to 7,08,941. More than 1.13 crore people have recovered.