Here are the top updates from Wednesday:

  1. Kerala reported 22,056 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 33,27,301 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The state also accounted for more than 50% of all new infections in India on Tuesday. The Bharatiya Janata Party blamed the Pinarayi Vijayan government for relaxing restrictions in view of Eid-al-Adha, or Bakrid. It said “politics of appeasement” won and that Supreme Court’s suggestions against curbs were not followed. The positivity rate, which is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of those who have been tested overall, rose to 11.2%.
  2. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the surge of infections in Kerala can be seen as the beginning of the third wave of the pandemic, ANI reported. “In Maharashtra, we are preparing for it,” he added. “We’ve kept oxygen, beds, medical staff and medicines prepared.”
  3. India on Wednesday morning recorded 43,654 daily new infections 47.03% higher than Tuesday’s count of 29,689 cases. The country now has 3,14,84,605 total cases. The toll rose by 640 to 4,22,022.
  4. The Centre extended the implementation of guidelines for the management of the coronavirus disease till August 31 and directed states to take “strictest possible measures” in districts that have a high positivity rate, India Today reported.
  5. In its epidemiological update, the World Health Organization said that the number of worldwide deaths from coronavirus disease has jumped 21% over the last week. The overall infections across the globe also jumped by 8% as about 5,40,000 daily cases were reported on average over the last week, the United Nations health agency said.
  6. The Indian Council of Medical Research said that at least two-third of the population surveyed in 11 states have antibodies against Covid-19, PTI reported. Madhya Pradesh tops the chart with 79% seroprevalence, while Kerala was at the bottom with 44.4%. In Assam, seroprevalence was 50.3% and in Maharashtra, it stood at 58%.
  7. Coronavirus cases in Japan’s capital Tokyo rose to more than 3,000 for the first time on Wednesday, AFP reported. Tokyo is already under a state of emergency as it hosts the Olympics amid concerns that the event could drive up infections.
  8. Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing sought greater cooperation from the international community to contain the coronavirus, Reuters reported. People in the Southeast Asian country are struggling to find oxygen in many parts and efforts to rein in the pandemic have been hampered by floods in eastern Myanmar.
  9. Saudi Arabia said it will impose a three-year international travel ban on citizens found to have visited “red listed” countries, including India, amid the coronavirus crisis. They will also face legal action and pay heavy penalties.
  10. Globally, Covid-19 has infected 19.52 crore people and caused 41.76 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.