1. India’s coronavirus cases rose to 22,15,074 on Monday with 62,064 new infections. The toll stood at 44,386 after a record 1,007 deaths were reported in 24 hours. However, the Union health ministry said India’s case fatality rate has fallen to 2%. Over 15.3 lakh people in the country have recovered from the infection. The Centre said India’s coronavirus cases remained concentrated in 10 states and they account for 80% of the new infections.
  2. Former President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday tested positive for the coronavirus. He also underwent a brain surgery later in the day and was put on ventilator support. Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, meanwhile, tested negative for the coronavirus and was discharged from Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru, where he was admitted on August 2.
  3. Officials at the Tirumala Tirupati Balaji temple in Andhra Pradesh said 743 employees have tested positive for the coronavirus since its reopening on June 11. Three temple employees have died of the infection.
  4. Kerala Minister Kadakampally Surendran, meanwhile, said that devotees visiting the Sabarimala shrine will have to carry certificates showing that they are not infected with the coronavirus from November 16.
  5. Tamil Nadu’s coronavirus tally crossed 3 lakh. The state reported 5,914 new cases and 114 deaths in a day. Its tally rose to 3,02,815 and the toll reached 5,041.
  6. The Indian Medical Association said that the death of doctors due to Covid-19 in Bihar was nine times more than national average. According to The Hindu, 19 doctors in the state have died of the infection so far.
  7. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the economic slowdown in India is “a humanitarian crisis” and urged the Narendra Modi-led government to take immediate steps to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis.
  8. The Supreme Court directed the Centre to respond to affidavits filed by Maharashtra and Delhi, challenging the University Grants Commission guidelines to conduct final year exams by September-end amid a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in the country. In another hearing, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the top court that the quarantine period of doctors and frontline healthcare workers, who are involved in tackling the coronavirus pandemic, will be treated as “on duty” and not as leave.
  9. A special sub-inspector of police in Tamil Nadu’s Thoothukudi district, one of the 10 policemen arrested in the custodial deaths of a father and son in June, died of the coronavirus. The 56-year-old police officer had “uncontrolled diabetes” and contracted the infection during his stay at the Madurai Central Prison.
  10. Health officials in New Zealand said that the country did not report any new coronavirus case in 100 days. They, however, warned that there was no room for complacency as the country still had 23 active cases. Globally, the coronavirus tally is now reaching close to 2 crore, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 7.32 lakh people have died of the infection. The number of recoveries has crossed 1.21 crore.