India on Sunday recorded 12,830 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s tally of infections to 3,42,73,300, government data showed. The number was 10.36% fewer than Saturday’s count of 14,313 cases.

The toll rose by 446 to 4,58,186 in the last 24 hours, while the number of active cases in the country fell by 2,283 to 1,59,272.

Other updates

  • Addressing the G20 summit on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India was ready to produce over 500 crore doses of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of the next year. He also asserted that it was essential that the World Health Organization approves India’s coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin, “at the earliest”.
  • The Centre wrote to the Assam and West Bengal governments to enforce Covid-appropriate behaviour in a strict manner as the two states recorded a weekly rise of 41% in cases of the disease between October 20 and October 26.
  • Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Saturday said that more than 2,000 teachers in the state were yet to get vaccinated against Covid-19, reported The Indian Express. The minister said that many of them have cited religious faith as their reason for not getting inoculated. Sivankutty added that these teachers will not be allowed in physical classes in schools.
  • Actor Urmila Matondkar has tested positive for the coronavirus, she said in a tweet on Sunday. The actor said that she is under home quarantine.

Global updates

  • At the G20 summit in Rome, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday said that the United Kingdom will donate two crore doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to developing countries, PTI reported.
  • From Monday, Australia will allow travellers from neighbouring country New Zealand without a mandatory quarantine, Reuters reported. Australian citizens who are vaccinated and are permanent residents of the New South Wales and Victoria states and the capital city of Canberra will also be allowed to fly internationally from Monday without having to quarantine on their return.
  • The coronavirus has infected over 24.63 crore people in the world and caused more than 49.94 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to the Johns Hopkins University.