1. India’s coronavirus tally rose to 70,53,806 on Sunday as the country reported 74,383 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 918 to 1,08,334. India’s active cases stood at 8,67,496, while the number of recoveries rose to 60,77,976. The country’s recovery rate is 86.17%, while the death rate reached 1.54%.
  2. India has tested 8.68 crore more samples for the coronavirus so far. More than 10.78 lakh tests were done on Saturday alone.
  3. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that it is possible that the number of coronavirus cases could surge during the winter. “SARS CoV-2 is a respiratory virus and the transmission of respiratory viruses is known to increase during the colder weather,” Vardhan said. “Respiratory viruses thrive better in cold weather and low humidity conditions.”
  4. With the festival season coming up, Harsh Vardhan also said that no religion or God demands that festivals be celebrated by putting lives in danger. “There is no need to congregate in large numbers to prove your faith or your religion,” he said. “You can pray to your gods at your homes. I would suggest that all of you celebrate festivals with your families.” He asked people not to go out to pandals to pray, but do so at home.
  5. Delhi’s Covid-19 case count rose to 3.09 lakh on Sunday, with 2,780 new cases. Meanwhile, 29 deaths took the toll to 5,769. This is the tenth consecutive day that Delhi has reported less than 3,000 daily cases, according to PTI.
  6. Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Sunday said that though the state has seen an increase in the number of cases, it has kept the mortality rate in check. “We could contain cases when there was lockdown,” she said. “But now measures are eased. We can’t blame the government for easing restrictions because people need to work and earn or else they will starve to death. But people need to follow all precautions.”
  7. Hyderabad-based firm Bharat Biotech, which had sought permission from the Drugs Controller General of India to conduct phase three clinical trials of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, was on Saturday asked to submit complete safety and immunogenicity data of the ongoing phase two trials before starting the third phase.
  8. United States President Donald Trump on Sunday declared himself immune from the coronavirus, even as he has presently contracted it, AFP reported. “It looks like I am immune for, I don’t know, maybe a long time and maybe a short time, nobody really knows, but I am immune,” he claimed.
  9. Pakistan has imposed “mini smart” lockdowns in several cities after a surge in the case positivity rate, a minister said on Sunday, amid fears of a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the country, PTI reported. Pakistan reported 666 new cases on Sunday, taking the total number of infections to 318,932, according to the Ministry of National Health Services.
  10. The global coronavirus count crossed 3.71 crore, while the toll rose to 10,71,308, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The number of recoveries crossed 2.57 crore.