A look at the top Covid-19 developments of the day:

  1. The Maharashtra government on Saturday imposed a night curfew in the state amid a surge in Covid cases. Schools and colleges will remain closed till February 15. Private offices will operate at 50% capacity. Restaurants, shopping malls and auditoriums have been asked to function at half capacity. Gyms, beauty salons will remain shut.
  2. Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala and Union minister Raosaheb Danve tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. On Twitter, both asked everyone who had come in contact with them to isolate themselves and get tested.      
  3. Only those fully-vaccinated will be allowed to travel by Chennai local trains from January 10 till 31, the Southern Railway said on Saturday, according to PTI. The rule will apply to season ticket holders too.    
  4. Sixty-eight Central Bureau of Investigation employees at its Bandra-Kurla Complex office in Mumbai have tested positive, PTI reported on Saturday. “The infected ones have been asked to home quarantine,” an official told the news agency.
  5. Appointments for the booster dose of coronavirus vaccine in India began on Saturday evening. The Centre has said that no new registrations in the CoWin platform would be required for those taking the shot. On Wednesday, the government said that it will not mix coronavirus vaccines when administering booster doses. A “precautionary dose”, or a booster shot, would be administered to healthcare workers and those over 60 years with co-morbidities from January 10.
  6. Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, on Friday said that 96% of Covid-19 patients in the city’s hospitals who need oxygen support are unvaccinated, reported The Times of India. “Ninety-six percent of the patients who are admitted on oxygen beds in 186 hospitals of Mumbai are unvaccinated,” said the civic body’s chief commissioner Iqbal Chahal. “Otherwise, we have seen so far that vaccinated people are not reaching ICUs.”  
  7. India on Saturday morning recorded 1,41,986 new cases of coronavirus – up 21.3% from Friday’s count. The total toll due to the virus increased by 285 to 4,83,463.The daily positivity rate increased to 9.28% and the active caseload stood at 4,72,169. India’s recovery rate is at 97.3%.
  8. Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic was given a Covid-19 vaccine exemption because he tested positive for the virus in December, his lawyers said in a court filing on Saturday, three days after Australian border agents placed him in a Melbourne detention centre. The world number one has also requested to be moved to a facility where he can train for the Australian Open, his lawyers said, after a vaccine exemption to play the tournament was rejected.  
  9. Tokyo registered 1,224 new coronavirus cases, the highest since September 11, reported Japan Today. Okinawa and Hiroshima are set to go under new restrictions from Sunday.
  10. Romanian authorities tightened pandemic measures including the mandatory wearing of face masks in outdoor and indoor public spaces, reported AP. Those not complying with mask rules can be fined up to 500 euros. Bars, restaurants, gyms and movie halls can stay open until 10 pm and operate at 50% or 30% capacity depending on the area’s infection rate.