1. India on Monday reported 39,796 daily new coronavirus cases, taking its tally since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 to 3,05,85,229. This was 7.6% lower than Sunday’s count of 43,071 infections. The toll rose to 4,02,728 with 723 more deaths – the lowest in around 88 days. As many as 2,97,00,430 people have recovered from the infection so far.
  2. The Andhra Pradesh government allowed cinema halls, restaurants, gymnasiums and marriage halls to reopen with 50% capacity from July 8. “All establishments should strictly follow the Covid protocols,” the chief minister’s office said in a statement. “Covid-appropriate behaviour like wearing of facial masks, hand sanitisation and physical distancing are a must.”
  3. In Bihar, the Nitish Kumar government allowed reopening of colleges and universities with 50% attendance from July 7. Gyms, clubs and swimming pools can also function with 50% capacity. But, only those who have been vaccinated will be permitted to use these facilities.
  4. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation allowed domestic passenger flights to operate at 65% capacity amid rising demand. The domestic capacity was reduced to 50% on June 1.
  5. Delhi recorded 54 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking its total count to 14,34,608. This was the lowest rise since April 15 last year, when the city reported 17 infections, according to PTI. With two more deaths, the toll stood at 24,997. Meanwhile, the Delhi government ordered the closure of all shops in Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market and Sadar Bazar’s Rui Mandi for violation of Covid-19 protocols.
  6. The Central Board of Secondary Education released a new assessment scheme for Class 10 and 12 students this year due to the coronavirus crisis. In 2021-’22, it will reduce the syllabus, hold board examinations twice during the year in different formats and ensure continuous recording of internal assessment marks to have a variety of options to calculate a final score at the end of the year.
  7. India’s technology platform for coronavirus vaccination, CoWin, is being made open source and will soon be available to all countries, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Open source refers to software that is publicly accessible and free for anyone to use, modify and share. Dr RS Sharma, chairperson of the Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration, had last week said that more than 50 countries have expressed interest in the technology.
  8. The Kerala government said it will increase coronavirus tests in the northern districts of the state, where cases are comparatively higher than other areas. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said authorities will look into the reasons behind the increase in infections in Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kasaragod and Wayanad districts.
  9. A spokesperson of the French government warned that the country could record jump in cases by the end of July due to the spread of the Delta variant of the virus. “We’ve seen in the United Kingdom an explosion (of cases) that occurred very rapidly after the first red flags, and we’re seeing these signs in our country,” Gabriel Attal said.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 18.37 crore people and killed more than 39.76 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.