1. India’s coronavirus tally on Sunday breached the 30-lakh mark after the country reported 69,239 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 912 to 56,706. Of the overall tally of 30,44,940, India now has 7,07,668 active cases, while more than 22 lakh people have recovered from the infection.
  2. The Serum Institute of India on Sunday dismissed reports that it would be able to commercialise the coronavirus vaccine in 73 days, and said the claims around its availability were completely “false and conjectural”. In a statement, the institute clarified that the government had granted it permission to only manufacture the vaccine and stockpile it for future use.
  3. Delhi reported 1,450 new cases, 1,250 recoveries and 16 deaths in 24 hours, pushing the city’s tally of Covid-19 infections to 1,61,466. This was the biggest single-day rise recorded in the Capital in August. The toll rose to 4,300, and as many as 1,45,388 people have recovered from the disease so far.
  4. Maharashtra reported 10,441 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the state’s tally to 6,82,383. Its toll is now 22,253. Tamil Nadu’s tally of infections rose to 3,79,385, after 5,975 more cases were recorded. The toll rose by 97 to 6,517. Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, registered 7,895 cases and 93 deaths in a day, pushing the state’s tally to 3,53,111 and the toll to 3,282.
  5. The Assam government launched its first serological survey to assess whether people surveyed have developed immunity to the coronavirus. The survey titled, “A.A.S.H.A Assessment of Anti- SARSCoV2 Seroprevalence in Habitants of Assam: a population based cross sectional study”, is an initiative of an NGO in partnership with a diagnostics solutions provider.
  6. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pay heed to the demands of the students and postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and the Joint Entrance Examination (Main) this year, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also insisted that the government should postpone the entrance examinations and instead opt for “a thousand safer alternatives” at its disposal. He said that by going ahead with its decision, the Centre was “playing with the lives of children”.
  7. The World Health Organization has recommended that children aged 12 and above should wear masks like adults. On the other hand, children between six and 11 years of age should wear them using a risk-based approach, the world health body said.
  8. The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Sunday released the Standard Operating Protocol for resuming work in the media production industry, amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The general principles behind the SOP will help create a safe working environment for cast and crew in the industry,” minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted.
  9. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued the Standard Operating Protocol, or SOP, for international travel on non-scheduled commercial flights under the Vande Bharat Mission and air transport bubble arrangements. India had banned international flight travel in March, in an effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has affected more than 2.32 crore people. So far, 8.05 lakh people have died of it across the world, while 1.49 crore people have recovered, according the Johns Hopkins University’s tracker. The United States is the world’s worst-affected country with over 57 lakh cases and more than 1.76 lakh deaths. Brazil is second with more than 35.8 lakh cases and 1.14 lakh deaths. India has the fourth-highest number of deaths after the US, Brazil and Mexico. In Mexico, 60,254 people have died of the virus so far.