India on Thursday recorded 36,401 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 3,23,22,258 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The number of cases was 3.47% higher than Wednesday’s count of 35,178 infections.

The country’s toll rose to 4,33,049 with 530 more deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, while the number of active cases declined by 3,286 to 3,64,129.

(Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)

Other updates

  • An Indian Council of Medical Research study conducted in Chennai has found that the Delta variant of the Covid-19 virus has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, the Hindustan Times reported. However, mortality rate and severe illness was lower among patients who were vaccinated, the study published in the Journal of Infection on August 17 noted.
  • India’s R, or coronavirus reproductive, value has fallen under 1, to around 0.9, PTI reported citing a study from the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai. The number, which is an indicator of the spread of a virus, has dipped under 1 in Kerala and northeastern states as well. These states earlier had the highest R number. The number of infections keeps rising if the R value is more than 1.
  • Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the Centre’s target is to vaccinate all Indians by December this year, The Indian Express reported. “The government is really concerned about vaccination against the coronavirus disease and it can be gauged from the fact that so far already 56 crore vaccinations have taken place and its pace will be further accelerated,” he added. 
  • Tamil Nadu will only administer Covaxin to people needing the second shot because of a shortage doses, The New Indian Express reported. 
  • The number of Covid-19 tests done in India crossed 50 crore, the Indian Council of Medical Research said. 

Global updates

  • The United States has cleared booster shots of coronavirus vaccines for all citizens from September 20, Reuters reported.
  • Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 20.92 crore people and led to over 43.92 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.
  • Australia continued to register a surge in Covid-19 cases. On Thursday, the country reported a record 754 daily cases, according to Reuters. In Sydney, the authorities began distributing emergency vaccine supplies in view of the spread of the infection. 
  • In South Korea, the government is likely to extend curbs because of the rise in Covid-19 cases, according to Reuters. The country reported 2,000 new infections for the second day on Thursday. 
  • New Zealand recorded 11 new cases on Thursday, taking the total number of infections linked to the country’s latest outbreak to 21.