Here are the top updates on Thursday:

  1. The Centre said that Indian companies will import six lakh vials of Amphotericin B, the drug used to treat black fungus infections, and that the shortage of the drug will be resolved soon. Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry asked states to make post-Covid complication mucormycosis, or black fungus, a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.
  2. Congress President Sonia Gandhi wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to consider providing free education in Navodaya Vidyalaya to children who lost both their parents or an earning member of the family due to the coronavirus.
  3. India recorded 2,76,110 new coronavirus cases, taking the total count of infections to 2,57,72,440 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The country’s toll rose to 2,87,122 as it registered 3,874 deaths in the last day. The Centre released new guidelines on coronavirus. It said that aerosol particles “can be carried in the air up to 10 metres”. Apart from physical distancing and the use of masks, the advisory highlighted that better ventilation can decrease the risk of transmission of the infection.
  4. The Delhi High Court said hospitals in the city should set up their own oxygen plants taking a cue from the “bitter experience” of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Delhi on Thursday reported 3,231 new cases of coronavirus in its lowest single-day rise since April 1. The city logged 233 deaths due to the infection in the last 24 hours.
  5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asked district officials to collect data on the coronavirus strains affecting children. He also said the wastage of Covid-19 vaccines was a major problem in the country and asked district officials to make sure that this was curbed.
  6. Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech said it will produce 20 crore doses of the vaccine from fourth quarter (January-March 2022) at Chiron Behring Vaccines, the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary at Ankleshwar in Gujarat, reported ANI.
  7. The Punjab government announces social security pension of Rs 1,500 per month and free education up to graduation level for children who have lost both their parents due to Covid-19. The measure will also be applicable for families that have lost their breadwinning member.
  8. Recovered Covid-19 patients may develop new symptoms within six months to a year after recuperating from the disease, a member of the coronavirus National Task Force, under the Indian Council of Medical Research, said.
  9. United States’ infectious diseases expert Anthony Fauci on Thursday said children aged between four and six in the country will likely get vaccinations by the end of this year or the first quarter of 2022.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 16.46 crore people and killed over 34.13 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.