10.51 pm: Telangana reports 1,213 Covid-19 cases on Thursday, and eight new deaths.

10.40 pm: Karnataka issues a circular amending guidelines for isolation of coronavirus patients at home. The new circular permits only those who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic to be quarantined at home.

10.09 pm: Jharkhand reports 60 new infections and 57 new recoveries on Thursday. This takes the state’s total count of cases to 2,585, but the number of active cases is just 582.

10 pm: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare releases revised guidelines for home isolation of patients.

9.44 pm: Maharashtra’s coronavirus tally rises to 1,86,626 after 6,330 new infections, and toll stands at 8,178 after 125 more deaths, reports ANI, citing the state health department’s bulletin. However, 8,018 people have been discharged, thus reducing the number of active cases.

9.38 pm: Haryana records 11 deaths and 568 new coronavirus cases, according to ANI. The state tally rises to 15,509 and the toll stands at 251.

9.30 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin speak about the coronavirus crisis, and resolve to strengthen bilateral relations in order to jointly address challenges, reports PTI.

9.27 pm: Complete lockdown imposed in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia city from July 3 to July 10 after over 40 Covid-19 cases were detected in recent days, reports PTI.

9.25 pm: Sixty eight buses in Haryana’s Gurugram city have resumed operations on six routes, reports ANI.

9.20 pm: Madhya Pradesh’s coronavirus tally rises to 14,106 after 245 new infections. The state’s toll stands at 589 after eight deaths, reports PTI, citing the health ministry’s bulletin.

8.30 pm: Delhi records 2,373 new cases and 61 deaths. The total number of cases in the national Capital stands at 92,175 and the toll has increased to 2,864.

8.20 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi reports 19 new coronavirus cases and two deaths today, according to ANI. This takes the total number of infections in the area to 2,301 and the toll rises to 84.

8.12 pm: The Odisha government has decided to start plasma therapy for treatment of critical coronavirus patients, reports PTI.

8.08 pm: More new cases in states/Union Territories, according to ANI.

  • West Bengal: 649 new cases, taking the total to 19,819. 
  • Jammu and Kashmir: 154 new cases, taking the total to 7,849. 
  • Manipur: 19 new cases, taking the total to 1,279.
  • Uttarakhand: 37 new cases, taking the total to 2,984.

8.02 pm: The coronavirus case count in Madhya Pradesh rises up to 14,106 after 245 more people, including 57 in Morena district, tested positive today, reports PTI.

7.50 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting today via video conference with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to review the coronavirus situation in Delhi-NCR. A home ministry spokesperson says Shah emphasised on the following points:

  • Adoption of more testing using Rapid Antigen Test Kits to help reduce infection transmission rate. These kits can be provided by the Centre to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
  • Focus on early hospitalisation to reduce mortality rates.
  • Extensive use of Aarogya Setu and Itihaas App to help mapping of Covid-19 in the National Capital Region.
  • UP and Haryana can avail AIIMS-Telemedicine consultation through which patients will get advice from experts.
  • Small hospitals in both states can take guidance from AIIMS through tele-videography.

7.36 pm: The Delhi High Court has suggested to the Aam Aadmi Party-led government that it should set up a helpline through which healthcare workers could call anonymously to complain against private hospitals not providing adequate personal protective equipment kits or N-95 masks amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more here.

7.30 pm: Karnataka reports 1,502 new coronavirus cases and 19 deaths today. The state now has 18,016 total infections.

7.27 pm: Punjab records 120 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s count to 5,784, according to ANI.

7.22 pm: The Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal have formed a 12-member expert committee to explore economic reform measures to help businesses recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “The committee will explore reform measures that improve ease of doing business and shorten the process of economic recovery from coronavirus,” says an order issued.

7.15 pm: The Centre says India’s recovery rate is “fast moving” to touch 60%. “Timely clinical management of Covid-19 cases has resulted in more than 10,000 daily recoveries,” says a press release by the health ministry. “During the last 24 hours, a total of 11,881 Covid-19 patients have been cured, taking the cumulative figure to 3,59,859. This further takes the recovery rate to 59.52%.”

7.12 pm: Kerala records 160 new coronavirus infections today, taking the southern state’s total count to 4,753, reports PTI. Meanwhile, 202 people have been cured from the infection, the highest single day recovery so far.

7.05 pm: Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar claims that there is no community transmission in the state, reports ANI. “If it happens it will be announced by the Indian Council of Medical Research,” he adds.

7.02 pm: Tamil Nadu reports 4,343 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s tally to 98,392. With 57 deaths, the toll stands at 1,321.

6.56 pm: Novak Djokovic and his wife Jelena, who had last week tested positive for the coronavirus following his exhibition tennis tournament in the Balkans, have now tested negative, reports AFP.

6.52 pm: The Japanese capital Tokyo reports 107 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its highest daily tally in two months, according to Reuters. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga says there is no need for a fresh state of emergency.

6.44 pm: Two more people have died due to the coronavirus in Assam, taking the toll to 14, says Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Two male patients, a 78-year old and another 56-year old and both with comorbidities, have succumbed to the disease, he says.

6.40 pm: Tesla Inc is building mobile molecule printers to help make the potential coronavirus vaccine being developed by CureVac in Germany, the electric-car maker’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk says, according to Reuters.

6.32 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tells NDTV that 5.5 lakh predicted cases for the national Capital came from the Centre and he shared it with the public to alert people. “No one can predict what will happen tomorrow but all the projections that were being shared in the Government of India portal, I shared that on 8th June,” he adds. “I felt it was important to share with public because public also need to be on alert. There can be a different viewpoint also.”

6.15 pm: Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament from Bengaluru South, has tested negative for the coronavirus, reports News18. Surya had to undergo test after he met a doctor who tested positive at the Victoria Hospital.

6.06 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath has turned a blind eye to ground realities of the coronavirus crisis, says Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

5.50 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds a meeting with the chief ministers of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to discuss the coronavirus crisis.

5.43 pm: Singapore records 188 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, PTI reports. The country’s tally rises to 44,310.

5.34 pm: The coronavirus death rate in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city is around 5%, as against the national average of 2.95%, PTI reports, citing government data. The city has recorded 4,753 coronavirus cases and 236 deaths so far.

5.31 pm: Minister of Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel says all monuments in the country will open from July 6, with adequate safety measures in place.

5.24 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia says the government will soon come up with a model for online education, ANI reports.

4.59 pm: The Election Commission allows postal ballot facility to people above the age of 65 and coronavirus patients.

4.50 pm: The Uttarakhand police order the suspension of “Kanwar Mela 2020” because of the coronavirus pandemic, ANI reports. The police urge devotees not to come to Haridwar as the district’s borders have been sealed.

4.42 pm: The World Health Organization says smoking is linked to a higher risk of severe illness and death from the coronavirus in hospitalised patients, The Associated Press reports.

4.31 pm: The Bombay High Court directs prison authorities in Maharashtra to follow all guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research to contain the spread of the coronavirus in jails, PTI reports.

4.28 pm: Arvind Kejriwal visits the plasma bank at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.

4.11 pm: The Union health ministry has asked all states and union territories to hand over bodies of suspected coronavirus patients to their relatives without waiting for laboratory confirmation of the infection, PTI reports on Thursday, citing a letter written by health ministry’s Director General of Health Services Dr Rajiv Garg.

3.59 pm: Maharashtra and Delhi, India’s two worst-hit states, are among the top two states in terms of absolute coronavirus recovery numbers.

3.55 pm: Here is a list of top 15 states in terms of recovery rate

Union health ministry via Twitter.

3.54 pm: The Union health ministry says India’s recovery rate is now 59.52%.

3.47 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 817 new coronavirus and 17 deaths in 24 hours, PTI reports. The state’s tally rises to 24,825 and the toll reaches 735.

3.37 pm: The Institute of Chattered Accountants of India tells the Supreme Court that it may be difficult to conduct the Chartered Accountants examinations amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Live Law reports. The court will hear the case on July 10.

3.20 pm: The Union health ministry says the total number of people who have been tested for the coronavirus in India will soon touch 1 crore. The Centre says 90,56,173 tests have been conducted so far.

2.51 pm: Union minister Nitin Gadkari says India needs foreign direct investments worth Rs 50 to 60 lakh crore in infrastructure projects and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises to boost the economy, which has been damaged by the coronavirus crisis. “The country at this juncture needs liquidity,” he tells PTI. “Without liquidity, our economy’s wheel will not accelerate.”

2.38 pm: The Telangana High Court tells the state government that it is dissatisfied with its report on coronavirus tests, PTI reports. The court grants Telangana time till July 17 to file a detailed report.

2.22 pm: Pakistan records 4,339 new coronavirus cases and 78 deaths on Thursday, PTI reports, quoting the country’s health ministry. Pakistan’s tally rises to 2,17,809 and the toll reaches 4,473.

2.17 pm: Andhra Pradesh records 845 new coronavirus cases and five deaths in 24 hours, ANI reports. The state’s overall count rises to 16,097 and the toll reaches 198.

2.06 pm: Minister of Human Resource Development Ramesh Pokhriyal says that the Centre has formed an expert committee to analyse whether engineering and medical entrance exams can be conducted amid the coronavirus crisis. He adds that the panel will submit its report to the Centre by Friday.

1.55 pm: Job growth in the United States sped up in June as more restaurants and bars resumed operations but the escalating coronavirus crisis will limit more gains, The Associated Press reports.

1.48 pm: The officials in Maharashtra’s Beed city on Wednesday announced the imposition a curfew for eight days to control the spread of the coronavirus, according to PTI.

1.41 pm: Maharashtra minister Vijay Wadettiwar claims that the state is having to take loans to pay salaries to government employees amid the coronavirus crisis, ANI reports. “We haven’t received any fund from Centre,” he says. “However, there is no cash crunch for handling the coronavirus situation in the state.”

1.28 pm: A strain of Covid-19 that has infected more than 300 people in Beijing since early June may have originated in South or South East Asia, Reuters reports, citing a study by researchers at Harvard University. The outbreak in Beijing has sparked concerns about a second wave of infections.

1.24 pm: McDonald’s is planning to delay the resumption of its dine-in service in the United States by 21 days, amid a surge in coronavirus cases, Reuters reports.

1.17 pm: Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha tweets photos of Delhi’s plasma bank.

1.13 pm: Tope adds that nine out of 10 coronavirus patients have shown improvement after receiving plasma therapy. He says there is no community spread in Maharashtra.

1.10 pm: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope says remdesivir and favipiravir medicines will be available across the state in the next two days, ANI reports. “We are ensuring that it is not available for rich and influential people only,” he says.

1.06 pm: The Kerala government revises rules for the discharge of coronavirus patients.

12.50 pm: The United Kingdom will soon end coronavirus quarantine rules for people arriving from 75 countries, The Telegraph reports.

12.43 pm: An Indian Army Brigadier, posted at the Eastern Command in Kolkata, dies of the coronavirus, ANI reports.

12.33 pm: The plasma bank in Delhi has been set up at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences.

12.30 pm: Kejriwal also announces helpline numbers for plasma donation.

12.24 pm: The Delhi chief minister elaborates on the eligibility to donate plasma. “If you have recovered from the coronavirus, your age is between 18 and 60 and your weight is above 50 kg , you will be eligible to donate your plasma,” Kejriwal says. “Women who have been pregnant at some point in their life and people with comorbidities are not eligible.”

12.15 pm: Kejriwal appeals to the people who have recovered from the coronavirus to come forward and donate their plasma.

12.09 pm: The Delhi chief minister says plasma therapy will help in treating coronavirus patients till a vaccine for the disease is found.

12.07 pm: Kejriwal inaugurates a first-of-its-kind plasma bank in Delhi.

12.04 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal briefs media on the coronavirus.

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11.52 am: Thailand records six new coronavirus cases on Thursday, all imported from abroad, Reuters reports.

11.47 am: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath holds a meeting with officials to discuss the coronavirus crisis.

11.42 am: Bihar records 188 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, ANI reports. The state’s tally rises to 10,393.

11.35 am: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will hold a meeting with the chief ministers of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana over the coronavirus crisis on Thursday.

11.30 am: The Supreme Court says said all blacklisted foreign nationals who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi in March can make individual representations before concerned authorities.

Read here: Tablighi Jamaat: Supreme Court says blacklisted foreign nationals can approach concerned authorities

11.26 am: A flight carrying 143 Indians stranded in Moscow lands in Indore on Thursday.

11.22 am: The district jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar city on Wednesday set up a quarantine barrack to house new inmates after five prisoners tested positive for the coronavirus, according to PTI.

11.19 am: Tokyo records over 100 coronavirus cases on Thursday, its highest single-day increase in cases in two months, Reuters reports.

11.15 am: The Thane Municipal Corporation, Kalyan Dombivali Municipal Corporation and Mira Bhayandar begin a 10-day lockdown from Thursday, PTI reports.

11.10 am: New Zealand Health Minister David Clark resigns over criticism of the government’s response to the coronavirus, BBC reports. New Zealand’s government has been praised for successfully controlling the coronavirus but has recently come under scrutiny for its handling of border and isolation facilities.

11.05 am: Germany records 503 new coronavirus cases and nine deaths on Thursday, Reuters. reports. The country tally is now 1,95,228 while the toll stands at 8,994.

11.00 am: Rajasthan records 115 new coronavirus cases and five deaths in the last 24 hours. The state’s overall count rises to 18,427 and the toll reaches 426.

10.54 am: The World Health Organization warned on Wednesday that West Asia was at a “critical threshold” in the fight against the coronavirus, according to AFP. “The number of cases reported in June alone is higher than the total number of cases reported during the four months following the first reported case in the region on 29 January,” WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Ahmed al-Mandhari said.

10.51 am: Odisha recorded 229 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, ANI reports, quoting the state government. The state’s tally rose to 7,545.

10.47 am: California suspends indoor dining at restaurants in Los Angeles, AFP reports. More restaurants across the states close amid an increase in the number of coronavirus cases.

10.43 am: The World Health Organization on Wednesday said that over 1,60,000 coronavirus cases were reported every day in the last week, according to AFP.

10.41 am: Nagaland records 34 new coronavirus cases on Thursday. The state’s tally rises to 535. No deaths have been reported from Nagaland.

10.38 am: The Income Tax Department extends the deadline for Tax Saving Investments or Payments for the year 2019-’20 till July 31, ANI reports.

10.35 am: The Maharashtra Prison Department says 363 inmates in the state and 102 jail staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus so far.

9.48 am: As many as 3,59,859 people have recovered from the coronavirus so far in India. There are 2,26,947 active cases.

9.38 am: The number of coronavirus cases in India crosses 6 lakh as India reports 19,148 cases in 24 hours on Thursday morning. India now has 6,04,641 cases and 17,834 deaths. The toll has increased by 434.

8.40 am: The Mumbai Police says 5,800 vehicles were seized in the last two days for violating lockdown norms, ANI reports.

8.20 am: As Covid-19 sweeps through India, the outbreak has been most intense in the country’s largest cities. The pandemic has put India’s urban public health systems under stress, both infrastructurally and economically. In addition, the municipal finance systems that support the activities necessary to fight the pandemic on the local level have also been put under pressure. Land-based financing tools, property taxation reforms and capital market-based solutions could help cash-strapped municipalities gain fiscal autonomy.

Read more here:

As Covid-19 puts India’s largest cities under strain, municipalities must rethink finance strategies

8 am: As many as 18 private hospitals in Bengaluru were served with show-cause notices after a 52-year old patient died after they allegedly denied him admission. The patient had influenza-like symptoms, PTI reports.

“Notice has been served to the hospitals taking cognisance of the [media] reports about the denial of admission to a patient in emergency,” Health Minister B Sriramulu said on Wednesday. “Denying medical assistance during emergency is not only inhuman but also illegal.”

Read here: Covid-19: Karnataka issues notice to 18 private hospitals after man, who was denied admission, dies

7.50 am: Assam recorded 548 coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 8,955. So far, 12 people have died, PTI reports.

7.45 am: “I think we are going to be very good with the coronavirus. I think that, at some point, that’s going to sort of just disappear, I hope,” Trump said. When asked if he truly believed that the virus would just vanish, the US president added: “I do. I do. Yes, sure, at some point. And I think we’re going to have a vaccine very soon too.”

7.40 am: US President Donald Trump says he has “no problem” in wearing a mask if the conditions needed it, AFP reports. He has so far not been seen wearing the protective face cover in public.

“If I were in a tight situation with people, I would absolutely,” Trump said in a TV interview. “Usually I’m not in that position.”

Observing that most people that he meets at the White House are tested for the virus first, he added: “I’m all for masks – I think masks are good.” But he wondered if it was necessary to make them mandatory to curb the spread of the virus. “You have many places in the country where people stay very long distance.”

7.30 am: The deaths in Brazil cross 60,000, according to AFP.

7.20 am: The US records over 52,000 cases in 24 hours, AFP reports. This is it’s highest single-day rise in cases. The toll is now 1,28,028.

7.10 am: The global coronavirus tally has crossed the one crore-mark, with 1,06,62,993 cases so far. The toll rose to 5.15 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 54.51 lakh people have recovered so far.

7 am: Here are the top updates from Wednesday:

  • India on Wednesday recorded the biggest one-day increase in coronavirus deaths after 507 new casualties were reported, taking the toll to 17,400. With 18,653 new cases, the total number of infections in the country rose to 5,85,493. The recovery rate stood at 59.43%, according to data released by the health ministry.
  • The second phase of easing lockdown restrictions, called “Unlock 2.0”, started on Wednesday. Many curbs on movement have been relaxed, though schools, cinemas, gyms and bars will remain shut. The operations of domestic flights and passenger trains will be further extended.
  • Tamil Nadu recorded 3,882 new coronavirus cases in the evening, taking the state’s tally to 94,049. With 63 deaths, the toll rose to 1,264. Delhi reported 2,442 new cases, taking the total count to 89,802. Its toll climbed to 2,803, with 61 more fatalities. In Maharashtra, 5,537 new cases were reported, the highest in a single day.
  • The Goa government permitted tourism from Thursday. However, it said that tourists must bring certificates attesting to their Covid-19 negative status, or get tested at the state border.
  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the coronavirus situation in the Capital was improving, but given the unpredictable nature of the pandemic, there was no room for complacency.
  • Schools in Haryana will reopen from July 27, an order issued by the state education department said. However, colleges will remain closed till July 31. Schools in India have been shut since the first 21-day national lockdown imposed in March, some from a week or two earlier, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • The Ministry of AYUSH has gave permission to Patanjali Ayurved to sell the company’s particular formulation as immunity booster and not as a medicinal cure for the coronavirus. Yoga guru Ramdev had last week launched a drug called “Coronil”, claiming it can cure the coronavirus.
  • The organisers of Mumbai’s biggest Ganesh puja, Lalbaughcha Raja, cancelled this year’s celebrations for the first time in its 84-year history in view of the coronavirus outbreak. They will instead arrange blood donation and an awareness camp to promote plasma donation. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, preventing the gathering of groups of people, till July 15.
  • US President Donald Trump said that he was growing “more and more angry at China” over the spread of the coronavirus, as the American government’s top health expert warned that the rate of Covid-19 infections could double to 1 lakh a day if current outbreaks were not contained.