1. India’s coronavirus tally on Tuesday rose to 31,67,323 cases after the country reported 60,975 new infections in 24 hours. The country’s toll rose by 848 to 58,390. As many as 24,04,585 people have recovered. The Centre said active cases are only 22.2% of total cases and recovery rate in India is more than 75%. More than 3.6 crore tests have been conducted so far, over 24 lakh patients have recovered, which is 3.4 times the active cases, it added.
  2. Maharashtra recorded 10,425 new coronavirus cases, taking the total count to 7,03,823. The state had crossed the six lakh-mark on August 17. The toll due to the pandemic rose to 22,794 . Tamil Nadu recorded 5,951 new coronavirus cases and 107 deaths in the evening. The state’s tally rose to 3,91,303 and the toll stood at 6,721. Andhra Pradesh recorded 9,927 new cases and 92 deaths in a day, taking the state’s total count to 3,71,639 and the toll to 3,460.
  3. Kerala’s coronavirus count has crossed the 60,000 mark with 2,375 new cases. With 10 more fatalities, the toll has risen to 244. The state now has total 61,878 cases, while as many as 40,343 have recovered from the infection.
  4. The Indian Council for Medical Research blamed irresponsible people who refuse to wear masks for the spread of the coronavirus. “I wouldn’t say young or old, but irresponsible, less cautious people who are not wearing masks are driving the pandemic in India,” ICMR Director General Professor Balram Bhargava said at a press briefing.
  5. Manipur minister Nemcha Kipgen said she has tested positive for the coronavirus and asked those who came in contact with her to get themselves tested. Haryana Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma too contracted the infection, but said he was asymptomatic. Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar also tested positive and said he had been hospitalised as a precaution.
  6. The Reserve Bank of India said that improvement in the economic activity in May and June seems to have lost strength in July and August, mainly due to the reimposing of lockdown restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Therefore, contraction in the Indian economy could continue into the second quarter of 2020-’21, i.e. July-September.
  7. Children between the age of 5 and 17 are the most exposed cohort to the coronavirus in New Delhi, according to a serological survey. A prevalence rate of 34.7% was found among the age group concerned, the survey showed.
  8. Climate change activist Greta Thunberg said that it was “deeply unfair” that Indian students had been asked to appear for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test and the Joint Entrance Examination during the coronavirus pandemic.
  9. US top health expert Anthony Fauci said that rushing to distribute coronavirus vaccines under special emergency use guidelines before it has been proven safe in large trials had risks and was a bad idea. Meanwhile, United States’ Food and Drugs Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Tuesday apologised for overstating the benefits of treating coronavirus patients with convalescent plasma.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has affected more than 2.37 crore people. So far, 8.14 lakh people have died of the infection across the world, while 1.53 crore people have recovered, according the Johns Hopkins University’s tracker.