1. India’s coronavirus cases rose to 10,77,618 on Sunday after the country reported the biggest single-day jump with 38,902 fresh infections. The toll rose by 543 to 26,816. The recovery rate stood at 62.86%.
  2. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka recorded a single-day increase in number of new coronavirus infections in the evening. Maharashtra, the worst-hit state by the pandemic, recorded 9,518 new coronavirus cases, taking its total to 3,10,455. Whereas Tamil Nadu saw an increase of 4,979 new cases, pushing the state’s tally to 1,70,693. Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 4,120 new infections, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 63,772.
  3. The Union health ministry said India’s coronavirus case fatality rate is “progressively falling” and is currently at 2.49%. The ministry said this is the first time it has fallen below 2.5%, adding that it is one of the lowest fatality rates in the world.
  4. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath over the coronavirus condition in the state. “Looking at the condition of Lucknow in these media reports, it will be understood that the policy of hiding UP government’s inadequate preparedness, poor management and weaknesses, has resulted in this bad state of affairs,” she tweeted.
  5. The Indian Medical Association said that the coronavirus situation in India was “really bad” and the fact that the infection was now spreading to rural areas points to community transmission. However, the Centre has repeatedly denied community transmission of the coronavirus in India.
  6. The ethics committee of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi gave the institute the approval to start human trials of Covaxin, the first indigenous vaccine against the coronavirus. AIIMS will begin enrollment volunteers for the trials from Monday.
  7. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa directed private hospitals in the state to reserve 50% of their beds for coronavirus patients amid a sharp increase in the number of cases. Yediyurappa said that he was concerned about the deaths of coronavirus patients because of being denied treatment by certain hospitals.
  8. Russia’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, denied allegations that his country’s intelligence services are trying to steal the coronavirus vaccine and treatment research from academic and pharmaceutical institutions around the world.
  9. United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson likened the imposition of a second nationwide coronavirus lockdown to a nuclear deterrent that he would rather not use. “I can’t abandon that tool any more than I would abandon a nuclear deterrent,” he said. “But it is like a nuclear deterrent, I certainly don’t want to use it. And nor do I think we will be in that position again.”
  10. The global coronavirus count is now over 1.42 crore, and the toll has crossed 6 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 79.84 lakh people have recovered so far.