The Kerala government on Monday framed guidelines for opening the Sabarimala Temple for devotees in November, which include a virtual queue system and compulsory tests in addition to negative coronavirus certificates.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reiterated that he is hopeful that a vaccine will be available for the coronavirus by the first quarter of next year.

India’s coronavirus count rose to 60,74,702 with 82,170 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country’s toll went up by 1,039 to 95,542. More than 50 lakh people have recovered so far.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.31 crore people and killed 9,98,074, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The national helpline number for the coronavirus is 011-23978046, and a toll-free number 1075.

These are the helpline numbers for states and the Union Territories.

10.39 am: Gujarat registers 1,404 new infections, taking the state’s tally to 1,34,623, reports PTI. There are 16,716 active cases, 1,14,476 recoveries, and the toll stands at 3,431.

10.30 pm: Karnataka reports 6,892 new cases, taking the total number of cases to 5,82,458, including 4,69,750 recoveries and 8,641 deaths, reports ANI. The number of active cases stands at 1,04,048.

10.25 pm: Madhya Pradesh records 1,957 new Covid-19 cases, taking the state’s count to 1,24,166. The tally includes 99,944 recoveries, 2,242 deaths and 21,980 active cases, according to ANI.

10.15 pm: Himachal Pradesh’s Covid-19 cases stand at 14,457, including 3,650 active cases, 10,607 recoveries and 175 deaths, reports ANI.

8.52 pm: The Sabarimala Temple will reopen for devotees with precautions in November, including a virtual queue system, News18 reports. The devotees also have to carry a certificate showing that they are not infected, according to NDTV. They will be tested on arrival again.

8.47 pm: The Allahabad High Court directs the Centre to give it information about the progress in the trials of a vaccine for the coronavirus and its proposed completion date, PTI reports.

8.36 pm: The Maharashtra government agrees to allow restaurants to provide dine-in service from the first week of October, The Indian Express reports. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s office had tweeted that the guidelines have been made but are yet to be finalised.

8.34 pm: Delhi’s tally rises to 2,73,098 on Monday with 1,984 cases. Thirty-seven more deaths push the Capital’s toll to 5,272.

8.32 pm: Maharashtra reports 11,291 new cases on Monday, taking the tally to 13,51,153. The state’s toll rises by 180 to 35,751.

7.07 pm: Rajasthan records highest single-day rise of 2,112 coronavirus cases, raising its infection count to 1,30,971, according to PTI. With 15 more fatalities, the toll has risen to 1,456.

6.58 pm: Kerala chief minister also warns that strict action will be taken against those not following coronavirus guidelines. “Not more than 50 people allowed at wedding functions and not more than 20 people allowed at funerals,” he adds.

6.57 pm: Kerala reports 4,538 new coronavirus cases and 20 deaths today, according to ANI. The state now has 1,79,922 total cases and the toll has risen to 697.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says the state government has decided to call an all-party meeting tomorrow to discuss the coronavirus situation, adding that it will be held via video conference.

6.55 pm: The toll from the coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh rose to 5,652 with 58 more fatalities, reports PTI. Meanwhile, the total number of cases in the state reached 3,90,875 after 3,838 people tested positive for the disease.

5.23 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan congratulates the Indian Council of Medical Research for developing an online portal about coronavirus vaccines.

Read more here:

Coronavirus: Centre launches online portal for vaccine updates as India’s tally crosses 60 lakh

5.18 pm: German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that coronavirus infection rate in the country could reach 19,200 per day, Reuters reports.

5.11 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says during the India-Denmark virtual summit that the coronavirus has revealed the dangers of excessive dependency of the global supply chain on a single source, ANI reports. “We’re working with Japan and Australia towards supply-chain diversification and resilience,” he says. “Other like-minded countries can join this effort.”

5.08 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tells ANI that he may be discharged from hospital in a day or two. “I am feeling much better now,” he says. Sisodia had tested positive for Covid-19 on September 14 and was also diagnosed with dengue last week.

3.55 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says research to develop a coronavirus vaccine is being done expeditiously, reports ANI. “There’re at least three viable such vaccine candidates that are in the phase of clinical trials right now in the country,” he adds. “We’re hopeful that within the first quarter of 2021 it will be available.”

3.40 pm: At least 43 people, including 34 security personnel, have tested positive for the coronavirus in Mizoram, reports PTI. The state’s tally has risen to 1,908.

1.22 pm: The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that a decision is likely in two to three days over charging of interest by banks on instalments which were deferred during the moratorium period in view of the coronavirus pandemic, reports PTI.

1.20 pm: A Delhi High Court bench has directed that the link to its online court proceedings should not be shared with members of the public, including reporters, reports The Hindu.

“A very unpleasant situation arose before this court during the hearing of present case,” says Justice Suresh Kumar Kait. “Certain unidentified persons joined the proceedings through VC [video conference] and could be heard talking continuously, thereby creating hindrance in hearing the submissions of counsels and proper justice dispensation”.

1.17 pm: The Delhi High Court issues notice to the Centre and other respondents on a petition seeking direction to stop stubble burning in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in view of the coronavirus crisis, reports ANI. The matter will be heard on October 22.

1.15 pm: Odisha’s coronavirus tally has risen to 2,12,609 as 3,235 more people tested positive for the infection, reports PTI. With 16 more fatalities, the toll has risen to 813.

12 pm: Goa’s Director General of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena tests positive for the coronavirus, says a senior health department official, according to PTI. Meena’s condition is stable.

11.54 am: The Delhi Police and the Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights say that there has been a rise in the cases of child labour during the coronavirus pandemic, according to PTI. Coronavirus has severely affected the income of people, allowing traffickers to target poor families to persuade them to send their children to work, they say in a joint statement.

11.51 am: The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad launches a study to evaluate how far and long the coronavirus can stay in the air from an infected person in a hospital environment, reports PTI.

11.47 am: Arunachal Pradesh’s coronavirus tally crosses the 9,000-mark as 135 more people test positive for the infection, PTI reports. The new cases include 26 security personnel.

10.01 am: Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja says the state is witnessing a second wave of infections and warns of another lockdown, reports The New Indian Express. “The state has been trying its level best to avoid a total lockdown,” she adds. “But if the people are not ready to cooperate with the authorities, the state will have to go in for a total lockdown again in the state.”

9.59 am: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday asked officials to plan for a public movement to make people follow Covid-19 protocols, reports PTI.

9.58 am: India on Sunday tested 7,09,394 samples, says the Indian Council of Medical Research.

9.56 am: Jharkhand registers 974 fresh infections and nine additional deaths. So far, the state has 79,909 cases, including 12,433 active cases.

9.50 am: In the last 24 hours, Telangana reported 1,378 new cases and seven fatalities, according to PRI. The total tally of the state is now 1,87,211 and the toll stands at 1,107.

9.15 am: India’s coronavirus count rises to 60,74,702 after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported 82,170 fresh infections in the last 24 hours. The country’s toll goes up by 1,039 to 95,542.

8.41 am: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tells The Indian Express that the virus is still a big concern. “You don’t have a sure-shot vaccine, you don’t have a clear-cut end date; and with reports in some places that people who have been cured, are getting it back… big uncertainties are playing in the minds of entrepreneurs, small and medium,” she says.

Sitharaman says that in six months, the challenges faced by the economy have not reduced, but the “nature of challenges” has changed. “...And the ministry is now quicker than what it was in terms of responding.”

8.38 am: The number of recoveries crosses 50 lakh, with the last 10 lakh recoveries taking place in 11 days, ANI quotes the health ministry as saying.

8.35 am: The number of coronavirus cases in Pune district rises to 2,76,325, with 3,313 new cases in the last 24 hours, PTI reports. The toll is up to 6,300, with 80 more deaths.

8.30 am: West Bengal reports 60 more deaths on Sunday, taking its toll to 4,781, News18 says.

Here are the top updates from Sunday:

  1. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that his ministry is closely reviewing every emerging aspect of the coronavirus situation in India when asked about reinfection cases. He also said that Indians are still far from achieving herd immunity against coronavirus infection, adding that the Indian Council of Medical Research’s second sero-survey should not create a sense of complacency in people with regard to the virus. 
  2. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that the state could be hit by the second wave of the coronavirus as more people were going out for work. He also expressed concern over asymptomatic patients venturing out without taking necessary precautions and spreading the infection.
  3. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the coronavirus fatality rate in the national Capital was less than 1% in the last 10 days and that a massive increase in testing has led to rise in new cases.
  4. Travellers coming in from Dubai and the United Kingdom were the main sources of coronavirus importations into India, an analytical study by the Indian Institute of Technology, Mandi. The study also found that Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi did not play a significant role in spread of the infection.
  5. Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive officer of the Serum Institute of India, praised Modi’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Modi had assured the United Nations that India would help the world with a vaccine against the coronavirus. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a special reference to India’s role in manufacturing one of the most promising coronavirus vaccine candidates currently undergoing trials.