1. India on Thursday reported 12,881 new coronavirus cases and 334 deaths. This is by far the biggest single-day increase in the number of cases. India’s overall count of cases rose to 3,66,946 and the toll reached 12,237.
  2. Tamil Nadu reported 2,141 new cases, taking its tally to 52,334. With 49 new deaths, the toll in the state rose to 625. Maharashtra reported its highest rise in coronavirus cases with 3,752 new infections. The state now has 1,20,504 cases and 5,751 deaths.
  3. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade lifted the export ban on anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine and its formulations. This came a day after the World Health Organization halted trials hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for the coronavirus, claiming it had showed no benefit in reducing the mortality rate.
  4. The Centre directed the states and Union Territories to ensure that the salaries of doctors and health workers are released on time, adding that any violation of the order will be treated as a punishable offence.
  5. Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the coronavirus situation in Delhi and the National Capital Region, including Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the meeting with Shah was focused on how to save the National Capital Region from Covid-19. “Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and Faridabad are the same,” Kejriwal added.
  6. The Supreme Court ordered that the yearly Rath Yatra and related festivities at the Jagannath Temple in Odisha’s Puri city will not take place amid safety concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Lord Jagannath will not forgive us if we allowed the Rath Yatra,” Chief Justice SA Bobde said while hearing a petition seeking the postponement of the Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to begin on June 23.
  7. A ward of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has advised all residential complexes within its purview to set up emergency isolation facilities, and stock up on oxygen cylinders for coronavirus patients amid a surge in infections. The K West ward of Mumbai comprises Andheri West, Jogeshwari West, Lokhandwala, Oshiwara, Versova and parts of Juhu.
  8. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was given the additional charge of the health ministry and other departments allocated to Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday. Aam Aadmi Party MLA Atishi was also found to have contracted the infection.
  9. American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings revised India’s economic growth outlook to negative from stable, saying that the coronavirus pandemic had significantly weakened the country’s growth prospects.
  10. The global coronavirus tally rose to 83,51,427 while the toll reached 4,49,027, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 40 lakh people across the world have recovered.