The authorities in Kerala on Friday imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the assembly of more than four people, in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kottayam districts amid rising coronavirus cases. The orders will be in effect from October 3 to October 31.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya tested positive.

India’s coronavirus tally rose to 63,94,069 as the health ministry reported 81,484 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country’s toll went up by 1,095 to 99,773. As many as 53,52,078 people have recovered from the infection.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.42 crore people and killed 10,21,709, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.35 crore people have recovered worldwide so far.

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.

10.16 pm: The authorities impose Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the assembly of more than four people, in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam and Kottayam districts amid rising coronavirus cases, ANI reports. The orders will be in effect from October 3 to October 31.

10.10 pm: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya also tests positive for the infection.

10.05 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s son and state BJP Vice President BY Vijayendra tests positive for Covid-19. “I am doing fine, asymptomatic, and have isolated myself,” he says. “Request everyone who has come in contact with me recently to take precautions and stay safe.”

10.03 pm: Delhi’s tally rises to 2,85,672 with 2,920 new cases on Friday. The Capital’s toll rises by 37 to 5,438.

10.01 pm: Maharashtra reports 15,591 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its tally to 14,16,513. The state’s toll rises by 424 to 37,480.

5.00 pm: The Athens Marathon in Greece, scheduled to take place in November, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reports.

4.55 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports 3,946 new coronavirus cases on Friday, taking its tally to 4,06,995, PTI reports. The state’s toll stands at 5,917.

4.39 pm: Nagaland reports 74 new cases and 67 recoveries on Friday.

4.34 pm: The clinical trials of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s coronavirus vaccine resume in Japan, almost a month after they were halted as a volunteer fell ill, Reuters reports.

4.29 pm: Experts at the McGill University in Canada say an effective vaccine against the coronavirus is not likely to be available for the general public before the fall of 2021. The researchers carried out a survey of 28 experts working in the field of vaccinology.

“Experts in our survey offered forecasts on vaccine development that were generally less optimistic than the timeline of early 2021 offered by US public officials,” they say. “ In general they seem to believe that a publicly available vaccine next summer is the best-case scenario with the possibility that it may take until 2022.”

4.24 pm: Maharashtra’s Thane city reports 1,849 new cases on Friday, taking its tally to 1,76,861. The city’s toll rises by 36 to 4,458.

4.20 pm: Karnataka minister K Sudhakar says the state government is taking steps to triple coronavirus testing capacity, PTI reports. He adds that the government will set up RT-PCR [Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction] labs in the Public-Private Partnership model.

2.35 pm: BJP leader Anupam Hazra, who had said he will hug West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee if he contracted coronavirus, has tested positive for the disease, reports PTI, citing officials. Hazra, who has recently been appointed as a national secretary of the saffron party, is admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata.

1.53 pm: The Uttarakhand government issues guidelines for “Unlock 5” and allow the opening of cinema halls and theatres with up to 50% of their seating capacity in areas outside the containment zones from October 15, The Hindu reports.

1.49 pm: Mizoram’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 2,049, after 31 people, including nine security personnel, tested positive for the virus on Friday, PTI reports.

12.54 pm: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Thursday told the United Nations that India has taken several measures to ensure the “safety, security and well being of women” during the coronavirus pandemic. She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “visionary leadership” has heralded women-led development in the country.

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India took various steps to ensure safety, security of women during Covid-19 pandemic: Smriti Irani

12.52 pm: The Uttar Pradesh government issued guidelines for “Unlock 5” on Thursday, allowing schools and other educational institutions outside containment zones to reopen gradually after October 15, PTI reports.

12.50 pm: The Jharkhand government allows places of worship to open outside the containment zones in the state from October 8, PTI reports. The government adds that this year’s Durga Puja will be permitted only at homes, temples and small pandals without public participation.

12.48 pm: The Kerala government imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting the assembly of more than five people, to control the surge in coronavirus cases in the state, PTI reports. The order shall come into force from 9 am on Saturday and will remain in effect till October 31.

12.44 pm: Puducherry’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 28,534, after 514 new infections were recorded on Friday, PTI reports. The toll in the Union Territory rises by seven to 532.

12.43 pm: Odisha records 3,600 new coronavirus cases on Friday, pushing the state’s tally of infections to 2,26,334, PTI reports. The toll rises by 16 to 875.

10.37 pm: United States President Donald Trump says he and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive for the coronavirus. The president adds they will start their quarantine and recovery process immediately.

9.20 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 63,94,069 with 81,484 new cases. The toll increases by 1,095 to 99,773. As many as 53,52,078 people have recovered from the infection.

8.48 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research says a total of 7,67,17,728 samples have been tested for Covid-19 till Thursday.

8.46 am: Uttarakhand Cabinet minister Harak Rawat, who tested positive for the coronavirus on September 23, was hospitalised on Friday after complaining of breathing problems, ANI reports.

8.44 am: A group of scientists in the United Kingdom warned that even an effective coronavirus vaccine will not return life to normal. The report by researches of the Royal Society said the world needed to be “realistic” about what a vaccine could achieve and by when.

8.42 am: Amazon on Thursday said over 19,800 of its employees have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of March, AFP reports.

8.36 am: A second sero-survey in Mumbai conducted in mid-August has found that 45% of the slum population surveyed, and 18% in non-slum areas, was exposed to the coronavirus, The Indian Express reports. The first survey in July had put the figures at 57% and 16% respectively.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation survey covered 5,384 people from three wards: Matunga (F-North), Dahisar (R-north) and Chembur (M-West). Of 728 health care workers surveyed in slums, 27 % had developed antibodies against coronavirus. Besides this, more women were found exposed to and with antibodies against coronavirus than men.

8.35 am: Here are the top updates from Thursday.

  1. Maharashtra reported 16,476 new cases, taking its tally to 14,00,922. The state’s toll rose by 394 to 37,056. Karnataka, meanwhile, recorded over 10,000 cases, which pushed its tally to 6,11,837. The state’s toll rose by 130 to 8,994. Delhi reported 3,037 new cases, which pushed its tally to 2,82,752. The Capital’s toll rose by 40 to 5,401.
  2. A contact tracing study published in the journal Science has revealed that the transmission of the coronavirus in India has been mainly driven by super-spreaders. The researchers, including those from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, found that over 70% of infected patients in the country did not pass the disease to any of their contacts, while 8% of infected individuals accounted for 60% of new infections. It revealed that children are more efficient transmitters of the virus than initially believed.
  3. The Punjab government announced relaxations in coronavirus-related restrictions, including ending night curfew and lifting the lockdown on Sundays amid a decline in cases. The state has reported 1,15,151 cases and 3,451 deaths so far.
  4. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has said the third sero survey shows that 25.1% of the participants have developed antibodies to the coronavirus. Jain added that the last survey put the figure at 28.7%.
  5. The Supreme Court accepted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation recommendations for refunding passengers for airline tickets that were cancelled because of the lockdown enforced to contain the coronavirus. The court allowed airline companies to set up a credit shell facility in the names of passengers. If the credit is not used, airlines have to mandatorily refund the ticket money to the passengers by March 31, 2021.
  6. A Supreme Court bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud quashed a Gujarat government notification exempting factories from paying overtime wages to workers, saying the coronavirus pandemic cannot be a reason to remove statutory provisions of labour laws.
  7. Congress leader Ahmed Patel said he had been diagnosed with Covid-19. He requested all the people who came in contact with him to get tested.