Top 10 coronavirus updates: Maharashtra reports over 5,000 new cases, tally crosses 2.1 lakh
A look at the biggest developments of the day.
- India’s coronavirus tally rose to 7,19,665, with 22,252 new cases in 24 hours on Tuesday morning. The toll went up by 467 to 20,160. More than 4.39 lakh people have recovered. India is now the third worst-affected nation in the world, crossing Russia. The health ministry said more than 1 crore tests have been done in India so far and the recovery rate has gone up to 61.13%.
- Maharashtra reported 5,134 new coronavirus cases and 224 deaths, taking the state’s tally to 2,17,121 and the toll to 9,250. Delhi recorded 2,008 new cases that took its overall case count to 1,02,831. The Capital’s toll reached 3,165 with 50 new deaths. Tamil Nadu reported 3,616 new cases and 65 deaths. The state’s tally rose to 1,18,594 and the toll went up to 1,636.
- The West Bengal government announced that strict lockdown will be imposed in containment zones from July 9 amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Offices and shops in these areas will be closed and public transport will be suspended.
- The Subject Expert Committee, which evaluates applications for clinical trials of potential coronavirus vaccines, has said that Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech should submit results of the Phase I clinical human trial of Covaxin to the Drugs Controller General of India before starting the Phase II trial.
- The Central Board of Secondary Education said syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 will be reduced by 30% for the coming academic year due to the coronavirus situation.
- The Uttarakhand government sealed the borders of Haridwar district to restrict the entry of devotees for the annual “Kanwar Yatra”.
- The Haryana government has stopped the dearness allowance and dearness relief for state government employees and pensioners at the current rates till July 2021.
- Karnataka minister JC Madhuswamy expressed fears about community transmission of the coronavirus in the state, saying the “situation is going out of hand”. Community transmission is the stage when the source of the infection cannot be traced and a large number of people are affected.
- Clinical scientist Gagandeep Kang has resigned as the executive director of the Faridabad-based Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute – an autonomous health research body under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Biotechnology. Her resignation came around two months after a group, which she had headed to look at prospective indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidates from India, was disbanded.
- Australia’s second-largest city Melbourne will be placed under lockdown from Thursday amid a surge in cases. The global coronavirus tally is now over 1.16 crore, while the toll has crossed 5.39 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 63 lakh people have recovered so far.