Here are the top updates on Monday:

  1. The Reserve Bank of India said that the biggest toll of the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic can be felt on demand and employment. In its monthly bulletin for May, the central bank flagged loss of mobility and discretionary spending among consumers. The RBI, however, added that the “loss of momentum” in the economy was not as severe as last year and that the second wave had dented, but not debilitated, economic activity in the first half of April-June quarter.
  2. India recorded 2,81,386 new coronavirus cases, taking the total count of infections since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 to 2,49,65,463. This was the first time since April 21 that the daily cases dropped below 3 lakh. The country’s toll rose to 2,74,390 as it recorded 4,106 deaths since the last count. Active cases declined by over a lakh to 35,16,997.
  3. The Gujarat High Court directed the state government to present a roadmap on how it intends to proceed if the number of “black fungus” cases rise, PTI reported. Gujarat government officials have said close to 900 cases of the post-Covid complication have been reported in the past month, according to the Hindustan Times.
  4. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the city had only three days’ worth of Covid-19 vaccines left for the 18 to 44 years age group. Meanwhile, Delhi on Monday reported 4,524 new cases of coronavirus, with a positivity rate of 8.42% in the last 24 hours. The count was the lowest single-day rise in cases since April 5 but the death count remained high at 340. Meanwhile, Mumbai reported 1,240 new cases and 48 deaths since Sunday.
  5. The Delhi High Court on Monday said leaders of political parties should not stock up on medicines used for treating Covid-19 patients amid shortages being reported from across the country. Meanwhile, in a status report filed to the court, Delhi Police said that All India Youth Congress President Srinivas BV and other political leaders questioned for alleged black-marketing and illegal distribution of Covid-19 supplies were “actually helping people” and there was no proof of fraud against them.
  6. Singapore will close schools from Wednesday as authorities warned that new coronavirus strains, like the one first detected in India, were affecting more children in the city-state, AFP reported.
  7. A Delhi court on Monday sent businessman Navneet Kalra to three days’ police custody in connection with a case of alleged hoarding and black marketing of oxygen concentrators. 
  8. The southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka continued to report a high number of cases. Karnataka logged 38,603 new infections and 476 deaths, while Tamil Nadu recorded 33,075 cases and 335 fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to government data.
  9. The coronavirus vaccine being developed by pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline showed “95% to 100% seroconversion” following a second injection in all age groups and across all doses in early-stage clinical trial results, Reuters reported.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected 16.31 crore people and killed over 33.81 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Meanwhile, Dubai on Monday relaxed Covid-related restrictions, Reuters reported. It allowed hotels to work at full capacity and also gave approval for concerts and sporting events where the participants and attendees are vaccinated.