India on Sunday registered 30,773 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the country’s overall tally of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in January last year to 3,34,48,163. The new cases were 13.7% fewer than Saturday’s count of 35,662 infections.

The total number of deaths due to the coronavirus increased to 4,44,838 after 309 fatalities were recorded in the past 24 hours, government data showed. The country currently has 3,32,158 active cases of the coronavirus.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Other updates

  • The Union civil aviation ministry on Saturday allowed airlines in the country to operate 85% of their flights that were in service before the outbreak of the pandemic. So far, the carriers were allowed to operate 72.5% of their fleet, The Times of India reported.
  • The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization of the World Health Organization will meet next month to make its recommendations on emergency use listing of Bharat Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, PTI reported on Sunday.
  • The Kerala government has decided to stop rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 in private laboratories, The Hindu reported. These tests will now be carried out only in hospitals at the discretion of a doctor. The decision was taken since nearly 90% of the state’s population has received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
  • The Union health ministry on Sunday said that more than 78.58 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have so far been provided to states and Union Territories. More than 1.16 crore doses are currently in the pipeline for delivery to states, the ministry said.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that in its Covid-19 vaccination campaign, the Centre gave priority to states with potential in tourism sector, ANI reported.

Global updates

  • The Australian Police arrested 235 people in Melbourne and 32 in Sydney on Saturday during rallies against coronavirus lockdowns, Reuters reported. At least six police officer were hospitalised after they clashed with the protestors. 
  • Vietnam has approved the Abdala coronavirus vaccine developed in Cuba, Reuters reported. The country is currently battling its worst outbreak of the pandemic, while just 6.3% of its population has received two shots of the vaccine.
  • Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 22.81 crore people and caused more than 46.85 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.