1. Maharashtra and Mumbai on Monday reported their lowest single-day case counts since March. Mumbai reported 1,794 new cases, the lowest single-day count since March 16, and 74 deaths. The city now has a total of 6,78,269 cases and 13,891 deaths. Maharashtra reported 37,236 new cases and 549 deaths, taking the overall case count to 51,38,973 and the toll to 76,398. This is the lowest case daily count in the state since March 30.
  2. India on Monday registered 3,66,161 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, taking the tally of infections in the country to 2,26,62,575 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The overall infection count dropped below the 4-lakh mark for the first time after four days. With 3,754 deaths, the toll climbed to 2,46,116. There are 37,45,237 active cases and 1,86,71,222 patients have recovered from the infection so far.
  3. Dozens of decomposed bodies were seen floating in Ganga river in Bihar’s Buxar district on Monday morning. The bloated bodies later piled up on the banks of the river in Chausa, a village located about 11 km from Buxar city, on Bihar’s border with Uttar Pradesh. Villagers and officials suspect these are Covid fatalities who were thrown into the river, leading to massive panic and worry that residents will contract the coronavirus infection.
  4. The Kerala government on Monday told the High Court that it had come up with a fee structure for various services in private hospitals, according to the Hindustan Times. The state government was pulled up by the Kerala High Court earlier in the day while hearing a suo motu case on private hospitals charging exorbitant amounts. The Madras High Court also observed that hospitals seem to be taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis by charging high fees from patients and their families.
  5. The Haryana government announced additional restrictions in the state for a week in view of the worsening coronavirus situation, reported ANI. The new rules will be in addition to the ongoing lockdown in the state. As per the guidelines, gatherings of more than 11 persons will be prohibited, even at weddings and funerals, said Home Minister Anil Vij.
  6. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that she has taken strict measures to control the spread of the coronavirus infection in the state. “A total lockdown will hamper livelihood of people,” she added.
  7. Delhi on Monday reported 12,651 coronavirus cases and 319 deaths in a day. With this, the national Capital has a total of 13,36,218 cases and 19,663 deaths. The positivity rate fell to 19.1%, the lowest it has been since April 16. However, the number of tests conducted have also been falling. Meanwhile, Health Minister Satyendar Jain warned that the city was running dangerously low on vaccine supplies, a problem that could exacerbate the strong second wave of coronavirus infections in the Capital.
  8. Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy has tested positive. He is currently receiving treatment at a private hospital in Chennai.
  9. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected 15.79 crore people and killed over 32.88 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 9.39 crore people have recovered from the infection.
  10. Spain lifted its state of emergency, which was in place since October last year, allowing its citizens to travel between regions for the first time in months. Meanwhile, England will press ahead with plans to ease Covid-19 restrictions further on May 17, including allowing people to meet indoors.