India on Tuesday registered 31,222 new coronavirus cases, pushing the cumulative tally of infections since the pandemic began in January last year to 3,30,58,843.

The new cases on Tuesday are 19.8% lower than Monday’s count of 38,948 cases.

The nationwide toll increased to 4,41,042 after 290 deaths were recorded in the past day. The country presently has 3,92,864 active cases of Covid-19. Active cases have decreased by 12,010 in the past 24 hours.

As many as 3,22,24,937 people have recovered from Covid-19 in the country so far, according to the Union health ministry.

In the past day, 1,13,53,571 people received vaccines against coronavirus, and the cumulative number of people who have been inoculated against the disease increased to 69,9062,776.

Other updates

  • Data from Mumbai’s civic body showed that in the first six days of September the city registered more than 28% of the total coronavirus cases it registered in the entire month of August, according to PTI. Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said that the civic body has decided to increase Covid-19 testing, hire more clean-up marshals to fine people spitting in public, and keep jumbo Covid-19 centres ready.
  • The chances of a third wave as strong as the second one are very low if there are no new variants of the coronavirus, virologist Gagandeep Kang told CNBC-TV18 in an interview. She also said that India needs its own data to decide on whether to vaccine children.
  • Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that the state will achieve 100% full vaccination by November, reported PTI. Himachal Pradesh is the first state to inoculate all its eligible residents with the first dose of the vaccine.
  • Seventy-eight people, including Afghan citizens who were evacuated from Afghanistan last month, were discharged from a Indo-Tibetan Border Police facility in Delhi, after they completed their 14-day quarantine, reported PTI. The group includes 53 Afghan citizens and 25 Indians.
  • The Meghalaya government made RT-PCR tests mandatory for those visiting the state if they have not been fully vaccinated or do not have an RT-PCR negative report issued 72 hours before their arrival, reported News18.

Global updates

  • Cuba on Monday began vaccinating children above two years of age against Covid-19, becoming the first country to do so, AFP reported. However, the country is using home-grown vaccines that have not been recognised by the World Health Organisation.
  • Chile became the first South American country to approve the use of a Covid-19 vaccine by Sinovac for vaccinating children aged 6 and above, reported AP. The country’s health ministry, however, has not yet decided the dates and mechanism to start the vaccinations.
  • Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 22.10 crore people and led to over 45.74 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to John Hopkins University.