Maharashtra on Sunday extended its lockdown till June 15. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that restrictions will be eased depending on the number of new Covid-19 cases that come up in districts in the days to come.
Delhi on Sunday reported 946 new cases of the coronavirus – under 1,000 cases for the second day in the row during the massive second wave of the pandemic in India.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s production of medical oxygen has grown by more than 10 times amid the coronavirus crisis. He addressed the country through his monthly radio programme “Mann ki baat”.
India registered 1,65,553 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking its tally of infections to 2,78,94,800 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. This is the lowest number of new infections recorded in a single day in 46 days. The country’s toll rose to 3,25,972 as it recorded 3,460 deaths in the last day.
Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 16.97 crore people and killed over 35.29 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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9.29 pm: Uddhav Thackeray says the lockdown in Maharashtra is being extended upto June 15. Restrictions will be eased depending on the number of new cases in districts.
9.20 pm: Thackeray says that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about changed required to relief aid that is given during natural calamities, ANI reports. Thackeray adds that the NDRF should be given more assistance, and that he hopes “the Centre will provide help in this regard.”
9 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray says even though the number of new cases has declined, the numbers are similar to the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, reports PTI. Thackeray says Covid cases are rising in some parts of the state.
8.15 pm: Here are Covid-19 case figures from across the states, according to ANI:
- Tamil Nadu: 28,864 new cases, 493 deaths
- Punjab: 2,627 cases, 127 deaths
- Gujarat: 1,871 cases, 25 deaths
- Manipur: 1,032 cases, 17 deaths
- Karnataka: 20,378 cases, 382 deaths
- Uttar Pradesh: 1,908 cases, 140 deaths
7 pm: Jammu & Kashmir government issues new order on Covid-19 restrictions to be implemented from May 31, reports ANI. Weekend curfews will continue to remain in force, the order says, adding that the salons and liquor shops will open for three days.
6.57 pm: Serum Institute of India tells the central government that it will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of Covishield in June, PTI reports, quoting a letter sent to Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“We are pleased to inform that in the month of June we will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country as compared to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May,” Prakash Kumar Singh, the director of government and regulatory affairs at the Serum Institute, says in the letter.
6.52 pm: Telangana government extends lockdown for 10 more days. The government also extends daily relaxation period from 6 am to 1pm.
6.50 pm: Here are the daily Covid-19 figures of a few states.
4.41 pm: Delhi reports under 1,000 new cases on Sunday, with a positivity rate of 1.25%. Seventy-eight deaths, and 946 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the Capital in the past 24 hours.
4.20 pm: Uttar Pradesh will ease restrictions in districts having less than 600 active Covid-19 cases. Shops and bazaars in these districts will be allowed to remain open from 7 am to 7 pm, and government offices can work with 50% of their workforce. However, schools and other educational institutions will remain closed, as will restaurants.
3.51 pm: Odisha logs 9,541 new coronavirus cases, pushing the infection tally in the state to 7,56,684, reports India Today. With 33 deaths, the toll climbs to 2,719.
3.48 pm: Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the regional director of the World Health Organization’s South-East Asia region, says that the surge in coronavirus cases has put an immense burden on the already overwhelmed healthcare sector. She says that some areas of the country are witnessing a decline but the situation continues to be of concern.
“Lesson learned from this surge is at no cost can we let our guards down,” Singh adds. “We must take Covid-19 vaccine at the first available opportunity. While we can’t predict the next surge but we can prevent it, which we must.”
3.46 pm: The Ministry of Finance announces 100% guarantee cover to loans of up to Rs 2 crore to medical facilities for setting up on-site oxygen generation plants. The ministry says that the interest rate will be capped at 7.5% under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme 4.0.
3.44 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath announced Rs 10 lakh aid for kin of journalists who died due to the coronavirus, reports ANI.
3.41 pm: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says that his government was aiming at inoculating 30$ the 3.2-crore state population by August 15 if vaccines are available, reports PTI.
3.39 pm: Defence Research and Development Organisation adds 250 beds at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Covid Hospital at the Delhi Cantonment, reports ANI.
3.37 pm: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inspects a Covid-19 ward in Coimbatore, reports ANI.
1.54 pm: Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the World Health Organization’s regional director for South-East Asia, says India is witnessing a plateau and even decline in Covid-19 cases in some parts, ANI reports.
“Lesson learned from this surge is at no cost can we let our guards down,” she adds. “We must take the vaccine at first available opportunity. While we can’t predict next surge, we can prevent it, which we must.”
1.52 pm: Assam currently has only 20,000 to 25,000 vaccine doses for the 18-44 age group, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says, according to PTI.
1.43 pm: Haryana extends its lockdown till June 7, but offers relaxation to shops and malls, PTI reports.
Shops, earlier allowed to open on an odd-even basis from 7 am to 12 pm, can now operate from 9 am to 3 pm. Malls will be allowed to open from 10 am to 6 pm, but the number of visitors will be limited according to the building’s size.
1.40 pm: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announces monthly financial help of Rs 1,500 to children who have lost either of their parents to Covid-19.
11.56 am: As many as 100 people have tested positive for Covid-19 at a wedding in Telangana, The News Minute reports. Four have died of the infection.
11.52 am: All India Institute of Medical Sciences chief Dr Randeep Guleria says India hopes to vaccinate one crore people every day by the end of July, NDTV reports.
11.50 am: The Indian Medical Association’s West Bengal unit files a police complaint against yoga guru Ramdev for his remarks against modern medicine, PTI reports.
11.46 am: A top Kumbh Mela official claims it is unfair to call the event a Covid-19 “super-spreader”, PTI reports.
Inspector General Sanjay Gunjyal claims that only 0.2% of the RT-PCR tests conducted in Haridwar from January 1 till the end of the event in April came back positive.
11.35 am: Modi says that India’s production of medical oxygen has grown by more than 10 times. “In normal times, India used to produce 900 metric tonnes of a day,” he says. “Now, we produce about 9,500 metric tonnes of liquid medical oxygen every day.”
11.33 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi adds that the country is fighting the coronavirus crisis with all its strength.
11.26 am: The prime minister adds that supplying medical oxygen to remote places was a huge challenge in the second wave of Covid-19, but the drivers of cryogenic oxygen tankers worked on war footing and helped saved lakhs of lives.
11.24 am: In his monthly radio programme “Mann ki baat”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi praises frontline workers for their efforts in combating the coronavirus pandemic.
11.21 am: The Centre says nearly 12 crore vaccine doses will be available for the month of June.
9.25 am: Pfizer’s vaccine appears to offer protection against the strain of the infection first detected in India but is slightly less effective, AFP reports, citing a study by France’s Pasteur Institute.
9.22 am: The Centre says that it is against vaccination guidelines for private hospitals to provide inoculation packages in collaboration with hotels. It adds that legal action needs to be taken against such institutions.
9.18 am: India records 1,65,553 new coronavirus cases on Sunday morning, taking its tally of infections to 2,78,94,800 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. This is the lowest number of new infections recorded in a single day in 46 days.
The country’s toll rises to 3,25,972 as it records 3,460 deaths in the last day.
9.15 am: Here are the top updates from Saturday:
- India reported 1,73,790 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall tally to 2,77,29,247 since the pandemic first broke out in January 2020. This is the lowest number of new infections recorded in a single day in 45 days. The toll rose by 3,617 to 3,22,512, while the active cases stood at 22,28,724
- The Centre announced a scheme to help children who have been orphaned because of the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to children who have lost both their parents due to Covid-19
- Kerala decided to allow an early second dose of Covishield for those travelling abroad. The travellers will be allowed to take the second shot within four to six weeks after the first one.
- The government reconstituted the six Empowered Groups of Officers formed to oversee Covid-19 response. There will now be 10 such groups, including separate panels on vaccination and the availability of oxygen. Each group will have 10 to 11 members.
- Vietnam detected a new coronavirus variant with combination of the strains first identified in India and the United Kingdom.