Coronavirus: Maharashtra’s toll crosses 1 lakh; Delhi records 381 new cases – lowest since March 15

8.53 pm: Maharashtra records 233 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday, taking its toll to 1,00,130, PTI reports. The tally of cases rises to 58,31,781 as the state records 12,557 new infections.

8.49 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 20,421 new Covid-19 cases and 434 deaths on Sunday. Its tally of cases goes past 22.37 lakh, while toll is 27,005.

8.43 pm: Circles are drawn outside shops in Delhi’s Green Park area to ensure physical distancing, ahead of their reopening on an odd-even basis from Monday, ANI reports.

7.18 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hits out at the Centre for fighting for “blue ticks” on Twitter, while Indians struggle to get Covid-19 vaccine doses.

Read more here: Centre is fighting for blue ticks, be self-reliant if you want vaccine: Rahul Gandhi

7.12 pm: Sikkim extends its statewide lockdown till June 14, PTI reports. Haryana also extends its restrictions till June 14, but allows bars and malls to open with 50% capacity, The Times of India reports.

7.07 pm: Sprinter Milkha Singh, hospitalised with Covid-19, is showing “continuous improvement”, PTI reports, quoting Ashok Kumar, the spokesperson of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.

7.04 pm: A huge vaccination drive is being held at the Hitex exhibition grounds in Hyderabad on Sunday, NDTV reports. As many as 100 vaccine counters have been set up to inoculate 40,000 people with Covaxin.

6.52 pm: Here are the states’ Covid-19 figures on Sunday evening:

Karnataka: 12,209 new cases and 320 deaths. Tally of cases rises to 26,95,523, while toll is 31,580.

Kerala: 14,672 new cases and 227 deaths. Tally rises to 26,22,724, while toll is 9,946.

Goa: 403 new cases and 16 deaths. Tally rises to 156633, toll is 2,760.

Uttar Pradesh: 1,165 new cases and 101 deaths. Tally rises to 16,77,137, toll is 21,252.

5.10 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray says the government is taking a calculated risk by easing curbs, adding that the people need to be cautious, PTI reports. “Nothing is going to be eased immediately,” he says. “Some criteria and levels have been fixed and the local administration will take decisions on whether to ease restrictions and further tighten them.”

5.09 pm: Maharashtra’s Thane and Navi Mumbai districts are in level two of the government’s five-level plan to ease coronavirus restrictions from June 7, PTI reports.

5.05 pm: The West Bengal government forms an expert panel to suggest whether or not it should conduct board exams, ANI reports.

5.02 pm: Bus services will resume in Mumbai from Monday, ANI reports. They will take only as many passengers as the number of seats.

4.53 pm: Delhi records 381 new cases on Sunday, taking its total count of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic last year to 14,29,244. This is the Capital’s lowest daily rise in cases since March 15, PTI reports. The Capital’s toll rises by 34 to 24,591. Its positivity rate is down to 0.50%.

2.35 pm: United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson urges the leaders of Group of Seven or G7 countries to promise to vaccinate the whole world by the end of 2022, Reuters reports.

“Vaccinating the world by the end of next year would be the single greatest feat in medical history,” he says. “I’m calling on my fellow G7 leaders to join us to end this terrible pandemic and pledge we will never allow the devastation wreaked by coronavirus to happen again.”

2.29 pm: Dr Naveet Wig, the chairperson of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Covid-19 task force, says metro services must not be started immediately, ANI reports. “For 1-2 weeks we must experiment with 33-50% [occupancy],” he says. “We should go slow otherwise lid will open up and we’ll not be able to suppress it. We can’t eradicate this virus.”

The Delhi government has allowed metro trains to run with 50% occupancy from Monday.

2.23 pm: India’s daily new cases on Sunday (1,14,460) are the lowest in the last two months, the health ministry says. The country has recorded less than 2 lakh cases for 10 straight days.

2.20 pm: Manipal Hospitals collaborates with Dr Reddy’s to roll out the Sputnik V vaccine, PTI reports. “We are pleased to collaborate with Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru as we scale up our soft pilot launch of the Sputnik V vaccine in India and extend it to more cities ahead of the commercial launch later in June,” Manipal Health Enterprises Chief Operating Officer Karthik Rajagopal says.

2.12 pm: The Haryana government asks the Ministry of External Affairs for help in checking the credentials of a Malta-based company that has offered to supply the state 60 million or 6 crore doses of Sputnik V in response to a global tender, NDTV reports.

12.45 pm: The Uttar Pradesh government lifts Covid-imposed curfew from all districts barring Meerut, Saharanpur and Gorakhpur as active cases in these three districts are above 600, reports ANI.

12.42 pm: Union health ministry says that the central government has so far provided 24,60,80,900 Covid-19 vaccine doses to states and Union Territories free of cost. The ministry says that the total consumption, including wastage, is 22,96,95,199 doses. It adds that 1,63,85,701 shots are still available with states and Union Territories.

12.40 pm: Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava directs deputy commissioners of police to chalk out plans to monitor the movement of the general public as curbs are relaxed on Monday, reported The Indian Express.

12.38 pm: Niti Aayog member (Agriculture) Ramesh Chand says the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic will not affect India’s agriculture sector, reports PTI. Chand adds that the farm sector’s growth will be more than 3% in 2021-22.

12.33 pm: India’s Sunday count of 1,14,460 new coronavirus infections is the lowest in 60 days, reports PTI.

11.14 am: The chief minister tells the Centre to take all credit of the doorstep ration delivery scheme but allow its implementation.

11.12 am: Kejriwal appeals to the Centre to help the Delhi government for the benefit of the country.

11.10 am: Kerjiwal says people are upset that the Centre is fighting with many states and Union Territories, citing the Union government’s spat in West Bengal, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Jharkahnd.

11.06 am: The chief minister asks why the Centre reject the scheme on the basis of a case on the scheme in the Delhi High Court. He asserts that the High Court did not stay the scheme, asking the Centre why did it reject it then.

11.05 pm: Kejriwal says that we changed the name of the scheme after the Centre objected to it. “We accepted all the objections you raised,” he says.

11.03 am: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal begins an address on the Aam Aadmi Party government’s doorstep ration delivery scheme.

9.27 am: The Centre defends its vaccine policy. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says the reports of inequities are completely baseless.

9.25 am: India reports 1,14,460 new coronavirus infections during the previous 24 hours while deaths rise by 2,677. The country’s tally of cases since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 stands at 2,88,09,339, with the toll rising to 3,46,759.

9.21 am: More than 20 lakh samples were tested on Saturday, says the Indian Council of Medical Research.

9.18 am: Here are the top updates from Saturday:

• India reported 1,20,529 new coronavirus infections during the previous 24 hours, its lowest daily rise in 58 days, while deaths rose by 3,380. The country’s tally of cases since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 stands at 2,86,94,879, with the toll increasing to 3,44,082.
• Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that malls and markets in the city will resume operation on an odd-even basis of shop numbers from June 7. The Delhi Metro will also function with 50% occupancy, as the positivity rate in the national Capital dipped to 0.53%.
• The Maharashtra government unveiled a five-level unlock plan based on positivity rate and availability of oxygen beds in various districts. In Capital Mumbai, restaurants, salons and spas will operate at 50% occupancy till 4 pm. Shops will also have to be shut by 4 pm. However, local train services will be available only for passengers in medical and essential services. Maharashtra reported 13,659 cases in the last 24 hours, including 866 in Mumbai.
• The Tamil Nadu government extended the coronavirus lockdown in the state for one more week from June 7 to June 14, but relaxed curbs in districts with low positivity rate. Himachal Pradesh and Goa governments have also extended the restrictions till June 14.
• United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said that progress is being made towards a deal on an intellectual property waiver for Covid-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization, reported Reuters. Tai said that the original proponents of the waiver, led by India and South Africa, have come up with a revised proposal to guide how they would like to negotiate the matters related to the waiver.