Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said the city should be given priority during vaccine distribution. He also assured that Delhi has sufficient infrastructure and equipment to vaccinate its entire population in a few weeks.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court noted that the coronavirus wave in the country was “uncontrollable” and things were going from bad to worse since March. It directed the Centre to strictly enforce safety guidelines.

India’s coronavirus count rose to 93,09,787 on Friday morning as it reported 43,082 new cases in 24 hours. The toll rose by 492 to 1,35,715. India’s active cases stood at 4,55,555, while the recoveries reached 87,18,517.

The coronavirus has infected more than 6.08 crore people globally and killed over 14.30 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Over 3.89 crore people have recovered from the infection.

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

Here are the top updates of the day:

10.54 pm: Maharashtra reports 6,185 new cases, as the tally goes up to 18,08,550. The toll moves up to 46,898, with 85 deaths on Friday, reports ANI.

9.50 pm: Madhya Pradesh reports 1,645 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the toll up to 2,01,597. With 15 deaths, the toll moves up to 3,224, reports ANI.

9.48 pm: Delhi records 5,482 fresh coronavirus cases on Friday, the total tally rising to 5,56,744, reports ANI. The toll goes up to 8,909, with 98 more fatalities.

9.43 pm: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he won’t take any working Covid-19 vaccine himself and calls the use of masks to limit the spread of the disease a taboo, reports AP.

9.22 pm: With 1,526 new cases, Karnataka’s tally goes up to 8,81,086, reports PTI. Toll moves up to 11,738, with 12 new deaths.

9.19 pm: Gujarat registers highest single-day spike for the second straight day, with 1,607 new cases, reports PTI. Toll goes up to 3,938 with 16 more deaths.

9.16 pm: Tamil Nadu records 1,442 new cases on Friday, according to PTI. The toll goes up to 11,681 with 12 more deaths

9.12 pm: Kerala reports 3,966 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours on Friday, reports IANS. At present there are 63,885 active cases in the state.

6.46 pm: Delhi health minister says the city should be given priority during the distribution of the vaccine as it is the national Capital, according to PTI.

6.45 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the national Capital has sufficient infrastructure and equipment to vaccinate its entire population in a few weeks once a vaccine for the coronavirus is available, reports PTI.

“There is no need to worry about storage of vaccines,” he adds. “We have a large number of health care facilities, such as mohalla clinics, poly clinics, and hospitals etc, where a Covid-19 vaccine can be administered to people.”

6.30 pm: Sadiq al-Mahdi, Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister and leader of the country’s largest political party, has died of the coronavirus, reports AP. He was 84.

5.22 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday visit Zydus Cadila plant in Ahmedabad, Serum Institute of India in Pune and Bharat Biotech’s facility in Hyderabad to review coronavirus vaccine development work.

3.51 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will begin his visit to Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune on Saturday to review vaccine development efforts, his office says.

3.42 pm: The Supreme Court takes suo moto cognisance of the fire that broke out in a Covid-19 hospital in Rajkot in Gujarat, in which five people were killed, Live Law reports.

At the same hearing, the court directs the Centre to ensure that Covid-19 guidelines are strictly enforced. It pointed out gatherings that were taking place and most people were not wearing masks properly.

The court said that the Covid-19 wave was “uncontrollable” and things were going from bad to worse since March. “There are SOP’s, there are guidelines but there is no will!,” the court added.

12.53 pm: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he will not take the coronavirus vaccine, according to Reuters. “I’m telling you, I’m not going to take it,” the president says. “It’s my right”. He adds that Congress was unlikely to require Brazilians to take a vaccine.

12.48 pm: South Korea could face a shortage of beds as coronavirus cases in the country rise to a nine-month high with over 500 infections registered on Friday, reports Reuters. The country’s health ministry says there are sufficient beds for now but it could face shortfalls if the current spike continues for more than two weeks.

12.45 pm: Andaman and Nicobar Islands registers five fresh Covid-19 infections, pushing the tally to 4,682, reports PTI.

12.27 pm: Russia’s sovereign wealth fund and Indian pharmaceutical company Hetero agree to produce over 100 million, or 10 crore, doses of the Sputnik V vaccine per year. The companies intend to start production in 2021.

12.25 pm: Around 1,000 volunteers needed for the phase III trial of Covaxin, Covid-19 vaccine, at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Disease in Kolkata will be selected from among the people living within a radius of 10-15 km of the city, reports PTI, citing a senior official.

12.23 pm: The coronavirus tally in Puducherry rises to 36,856 after the Union territory registers 16 fresh infections, reports PTI.

12.20 pm: Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla assures Nepal that it would be a priority for India to meet their coronavirus vaccine needs once it is rolled out, reports PTI. Nepal has over 2,26,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases and about 1,400 people have died of the disease in the country.

12.16 pm: Odisha reports 594 coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the state to 3,17,239, according to ANI. The tally includes 3,08,839 recoveries, 6,629 active cases and 1,718 deaths.

12.14 pm: Maharashtra registers the maximum positive change with the addition of 1,526 Covid-19 cases whereas Chhattisgarh records the maximum negative change with a decrease of 719 active infections, the health ministry says.

12.08 pm: The Ministry of Health says 75.20% of the 492 fatalities reported in the past 24 hours are concentrated in 10 states and Union territories. Delhi leads with 91 deaths followed by Maharashtra with 65 and West Bengal with 52 fatalities.

The ministry adds that 83.80% of the total deaths are in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. Maharashtra contributes 34.49%, the maximum from a state, to the total fatalities.

9.45 am: India’s coronavirus count rises to 93,09,787 as it reports 43,082 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll rises by 492 to 1,35,715. India’s active cases stand at 4,55,555, while the recoveries reach 87,18,517.

9.30 am: Mizoram registers 23 new cases on Friday, which take its tally to 3,788, ANI reports. The toll stands at five.

9.20 am: The United Kingdom asks the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to determine whether the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine should be authorised for use, AP reports.

Also read: Coronavirus: AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine’s manufacturing error casts doubts on results

9.15 am: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Thursday asked the Centre to be clear about the funding strategy for the vaccine, Hindustan Times reports.

“The Centre should clarify if it will make the vaccine free,” he said at the 18th Hindustan Times Leadership Summit. “How much will the states pay? How much will the Centre pay? How much subsidy will the Centre give?”

9.10 am: Principal Scientific Adviser K Vijay Raghavan on Thursday said that about 30 crore people, including health care workers, policemen and priority groups above the age of 50, will be inoculated in the first phase of the vaccination drive, The Hindu reports.

Here are the top updates from Thursday

  1. India’s coronavirus tally touched 92,66,705 with 44,489 new infections. The country’s active cases stood at 4,52,344, while the number of recoveries reached 8,67,9,138. India’s toll went up by 524 to 1,35,223.
  2. Drug manufacturer Serum Institute of India said that the potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the Oxford University, for which it is a partner, is safe and effective.
  3. Nearly 7% of India’s population aged 10 and above, or about 7.4 crore people, were exposed to the coronavirus infection by August, showed the second nationwide serological survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research.
  4. The Arvind Kejriwal-led government told the Delhi High Court that a night curfew to rein in the coronavirus pandemic was under “active consideration”. This came after the court questioned the government about the measures being implemented to control the daily rise in new coronavirus cases, which had mostly stayed above 6,000 over the last week.
  5. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation extended the ban on international flights till December 31 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The aviation watchdog said that the ban would not apply to international all-cargo operations and the flights it has approved.