8.38 pm: Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro says he has tested negative for Covid-19, more than two weeks after he was first diagnosed with the infection on July 7.

8.30 pm: Maharashtra registers 9,251 new Covid-19 cases and 257 deaths, taking the state’s case count to 3,66,368 and toll to 13,389, according to ANI. There are 1,45,481 active cases and 2,07,194 recoveries.

7.46 pm: Punjab records 468 new coronavirus cases, taking the state tally to 12,684, including 8,927 recoveries, 4,096 active cases and 291 deaths, ANI reports, citing the state’s Department of Information and Public Relations.

7.45 pm: Nagaland government makes Covid-19 testing mandatory for all those visiting the Legislative Assembly Secretariat premises for the session on July 30, reports ANI. The visitors will have to carry the test results with them.

7.30 pm: Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra and BJP leader, Devendra Fadnavis, writes to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray saying: “Covid-19 testing in Mumbai should be increased,” the letter reads, according to ANI. “In the absence of aggressive testing, there is a threat of a bigger spread.”

6.07 pm: Rajasthan government begins a plasma bank at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur for treatment of coronavirus patients. “I appeal to all Covid-19 recovered patients to donate their plasma,” Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra says, according to ANI.

6.03 pm: Delhi’s coronavirus tally rises to 1,29,531 after 1,1 42 new infections. The toll goes up to 3,806 after 29 new deaths. There are 12,657 active cases, 1,13,068 recoveries.

6 pm: Tamil Nadu registers 6,988 new coronavirus cases and 89 deaths, reports ANI. The state tally rises to 2,06,737 including 52,273 active cases, 1,51,055 recoveries and 3,409 deaths.

4.45 pm: Bihar reports 2,803 new coronavirus cases, taking the state’s case count to 36,314, according to PTI.

4.30 pm: India’s recovery rate stands at 63.54% with 32,223 coronavirus patients recovered in the last 24 hours. “Total recovered cases has reached 8,49,431 today and they exceed the active cases by 3,93,360,” the Union health ministry tweets. “Sharp decline in case fatality rate to 2.35%.”

4.15 pm: India registers highest ever coronavirus tests with over 4.2 lakh samples scrutinised in a single day. “With 4,20,898 samples tested in the last 24 hours, the Tests Per Million (TPM) has further increased to 11,485 and cumulative testing to 1,58,49,068,” the Union health ministry says. “Both continue to maintain the upward trend.”

3.52 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray inaugurates via videoconference a coronavirus centre and a testing lab in Dombivali, reports ANI.

3.45 pm: The civic body in Maharashtra’s Thane city has suspended the licence of a private hospital and cancelled its classification as a coronavirus facility after it allegedly overcharged patients, reports PTI.

3.30 pm: A Bharatiya Janata Party delegation, led by state unit chief Satish Punia and Leader of the Opposition Gulab Chandra Kataria will meet Governor Kalraj Mishra at Raj Bhawan over the coronavirus situation in the state, according to ANI.

2.12 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accuses the Narendra Modi government of making profits during the coronavirus-induced lockdown. “There are clouds of disease and people are in trouble, but one seeks to benefit – this anti-people government is converting a disaster into profits and is earning,” he tweets.

Gandhi was referring to a news report that claimed the Indian Railways was making profit by running special trains for transporting migrant workers during the pandemic.

2.10 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal credits people of the city, Aam Aadmi Party and the Centre for “attaining victory” over the coronavirus crisis, but adds that the fight is not over yet, reports PTI. He also says the coronavirus cases and deaths in the city have reduced.

12.50 pm: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati says Uttar Pradesh must pay attention to testing, as well as hygiene and facilities at coronavirus designated hospitals.

12.28 pm: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray says he does not support the complete lifting of lockdown in the state because of economic concerns, PTI reports. “You can’t just think about economy or health,” he says. “There needs to be a balance between the two.”

12.25 pm: Puducherry records 139 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking its tally to 2,654.

12.16 pm: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tests positive for the coronavirus.

Read more: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan tests positive for coronavirus

11.43 am: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the Capital’s coronavirus positivity rate is now 5%, ANI reports. “The situation is satisfactory, but we have to be prepared,” he says.

11.38 am: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra writes to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath, suggesting ways to deal with the coronavirus crisis better. He asks the government to improve the condition of hospitals and quarantine centres.

11.27 am: Odisha records 1,320 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking its tally to 24,013, ANI reports, quoting the state’s health department. Odisha’s toll rises to 130 with 10 new deaths.

11.24 am: More than 8,000 Maharashtra Police personnel have tested positive for the coronavirus so far. There have been 93 deaths in the police force while 6,314 personnel have recovered.

11.22 am: To get the upper hand on the coronavirus, we first need to understand how the immune system reacts to it. Understanding this will lead to better treatments, effective vaccines and knowing how near we are to herd immunity – and if it’s even achievable.

Explainer: What are T cells and B cells? And how can they help fight Covid-19?

11.14 am: The United States Supreme Court refuses to lift a 50-person limit on religious services imposed by Nevada amid the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reports.

11.11 am: Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram observes a weekend lockdown.

11.10 am: As of 10:30 am on Saturday, Rajasthan’s coronavirus tally is 34,735. The toll is 608.

11.06 am: Vietnam is back on high alert as a new coronavirus case emerges in the country after three months, Reuters reports.

11.02 am: Jharkhand reports 377 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking its overall tally to 7,627. The toll stands at 76.

9.51 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research says 1,58,49,068 samples have been tested for the coronavirus so far.

9.46 am: Brazil recorded 1,156 new coronavirus deaths and 55,891 confirmed cases on Friday, taking its overall count to 23,43,366 and the toll to 85,238, according to Reuters.

9.33 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 13,36,861 and the toll reaches 31,358. The country records 48,916 new cases and 757 new deaths.

8.42 am: United States President Trump signs executive orders to lower drug prices amid the coronavirus crisis, Reuters reports.

8.40 am: Streets in Maharashtra’s Nagpur city wear a deserted look amid a self-imposed people’s curfew.

8.39 am: Flights at the Kolkata Airport will remain suspended over the weekend.

8.38 am: University Grants Commission told the Bombay High Court on Friday that the state governments do not have the authority to cancel university exams.

Read here: UGC says states have no power to cancel university exams; final year exams must

8.27 am: On Friday, the WHO reported the greatest single-day increase in global cases seen, with 2,84,196 new infections in one day. The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa.

8.25 am: South Korea reports its highest number of new cases since March, according to The Guardian. The country has 113 new cases, of which 86 were imported and 27 were domestic infections.

Here are the major updates from Friday:

  • The University Grants Commission tells the Bombay High court that the Maharashtra government does not have the power to cancel final year examinations amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The higher education regulator filed the affidavit in response to a petition filed by Dhananjay Kulkarni, a retired teacher and former university senate member from Pune. Kulkarni had challenged the state government’s decision to cancel examinations of final year students of both professional and non-professional courses.
  • The All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi began India’s first human trials of a coronavirus vaccine. A shot of the Covaxin vaccine was given to a healthy 30-year-old male.
  • The Centre released a set of guidelines for Independence Daycelebrations in the country amid the coronavirus crisis. The government said that the celebrations will take place with proper safety measures and crowd restrictions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the country from the Red Fort in Delhi and unfurl the national flag as per the tradition. About 250 guests have been invited for the prime minister’s address.
  • World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan warned that the concept of herd immunity, or a large section of the population developing antibodies against Covid-19, is still a distant reality. The scientist said that more waves of the infection would be required to get to a stage of natural immunity. 
  • The Delhi Police said that a 14-year-old girl undergoing treatment for the coronavirus at a medical facility in the Capital was allegedly sexually assaulted by another patient. The 19-year-old man and his accomplice have been arrested. The incident took place on July 15. 
  • The Bengaluru civic body faced sharp criticism after its officials sealed two flats in a apartment complex with tin sheets as a resident tested positive for the coronavirus. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said the barricades were removed immediately and apologised for the incident.