1. India’s coronavirus count reached 54,87,581 on Monday, after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported a rise of 86,961 cases in 24 hours. The toll rose by 1,130 to 87,882. More than 43 lakh people have recovered from the virus in India. India’s recovery rate has crossed 80%.
  2. The phase three human clinical trial of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine began at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital. “We have started the phase-III trials of the vaccine [candidate Covishield],” said Dr Muralidhar Tambe, Dean, Sassoon General Hospital. “We will administer dose to 150 to 200 volunteers.”
  3. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there is no guarantee that any vaccine being currently developed will work. Over 150 countries have joined a global effort for fair distribution of the vaccines. “The more candidates we test, the higher the chance we will have a safe and efficacious vaccine,” he said. “Almost 200 vaccines for Covid-19 are currently in clinical and pre-clinical testing. The history of vaccine development tells us that some will fail, and some will succeed.”
  4. A lockdown was enforced in 10 districts of Chhattisgarh, including state capital Raipur, till September 28, amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Raipur, which has been reporting 900 to 1,000 daily cases, was declared a containment zone. The nine other districts are: Jashpur, Baloda Bazaar, Janjgir-Champa, Durg, Bhilai, Dhamtari, Bilaspur, Bilaspur.
  5. The Taj Mahal in Agra reopened for tourists after over six months amid strict guidelines to check the spread of the coronavirus. The Agra Fort also reopened for visitors.
  6. The Union health ministry said India acquired the top position in the world in terms of recoveries from the coronavirus. It said more than 43 lakh people have recovered in the country so far, constituting for 19% of the total global recoveries.
  7. The Supreme Court issued a notice to the Centre and the states on a public interest litigation seeking a direction to provide food and proper health care facilities to children and their mothers. The petitioners expressed concern over 14 lakh anganwadis being closed due the coronavirus.
  8. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs told the Rajya Sabha that the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin locality in March led to the coronavirus spreading to many individuals. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy also said that the Delhi Police arrested 233 Tablighi Jamaat members.
  9. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its guidelines on the coronavirus to say that the infection can spread through aerosols, which are produced even when a person breathes.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.09 crore people and killed 9,59,295, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of worldwide recoveries is more than 2.1 crore.