India on Tuesday morning registered 14,313 coronavirus cases, pushing the infection tally to 3,39,85,920 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. This is the lowest single-day infection count in over seven months, according to the Union health ministry.

Tuesday’s tally is 21.06% lower than Monday’s count of 18,132 cases.

The toll climbed by 181 to 4,50,963. The number of active cases dropped to 2,14,900 and the recovery tally increased to 3,33,20,057.

So far, India has administered 95,89,78,049 coronavirus vaccine doses. On Monday alone, 65,86,092 shots were administered.

(Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)

State updates

  • The Rajasthan government has allowed religious events with not more than 200 people, reported the Hindustan Times. In its order, the state home department said that organisers will need to inform the district administration about such events and ensure that all the attendees have taken at least the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
  • A reply to a Right to Information query showed that the Union health ministry does not have data on how many coronavirus vaccines were procured by private companies, or on how many doses were administered by private hospitals and service providers, reported The Hindu. 
  • Himachal Pradesh schools resumed physical classroom studies for class 8 students on Monday after they were closed in view of the coronavirus pandemic, reported the Hindustan Times. Earlier, schools had reopened for students of Classes 9 to 12 on September 27.

Global updates

  • A United Kingdom Parliamentary report said that the British government waited too long to impose a lockdown in the early days of the pandemic, missing a chance to contain the infection that caused thousands of deaths, reported PTI.  A joint report from the House of Commons’ science and health committees said that this delay was due to the failure of the ministers to question recommendations of scientific advisers that led them to dismiss the more aggressive strategies adopted in East and and Southeast Asian countries.
  • Sydney ended a 106-day lockdown that was aimed at limiting the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease, reported the Hindustan Times. New South Wales, where Sydney is located, recorded 496 new coronavirus cases on Monday and has inoculated more than 70% of the population aged above 16.
  • Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 23.82 crore people and caused over 48.57 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.