Here are the updates from Tuesday:

  1. The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday advised Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh that the Public Health Response measures in the states should largely remain the same but had to “become more focused and effective”. The Centre has called the Delta plus variant a “variant of concern”, hours after Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and National Empowered Group on Vaccination Chairperson VK Paul said it was only a “variant of interest”.
  2. India reported 42,640 new coronavirus cases, taking its overall count of infections since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 to 2,99,77,861. This was the first day in more than three months that the daily count came at under 50,000. The number of active cases in the country stood at 6,62,251, while the toll rose by 1,167 to 3,89,302.
  3. Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is in the final stages to get an approval for the use of its Covid-19 vaccine in India, said the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla.
  4. Bharat Biotech has submitted phase three trial data for coronavirus vaccine Covaxin to the Drug Controller General of India over the weekend, NITI Aayog (Health) member VK Paul said.
  5. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra government and Mumbai’s civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, to frame a policy immediately to avoid unauthorised vaccination drives in which beneficiaries may be given fake vaccines.
  6. The West Bengal government formed a 10-member expert committee to supervise and monitor the coronavirus situation and suggest means for effective management of the third wave.
  7. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi warned the government of an imminent third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and urged the Centre to prepare for it.
  8. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been administered a dose of Moderna Covid-19 vaccine as her second shot after getting the Oxford-AstraZeneca one as her first, a government spokesperson said, reported Reuters.
  9. Poland’s Health Ministry has introduced a compulsory weeks’ quarantine for all passengers from the United Kingdom in an attempt to rein in the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19, Reuters reported.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 17.89 crore people and killed more than 38.75 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.