1. India’s coronavirus count on Saturday rose to 40,23,179 with a record rise of 86,432 new cases. The toll increased by 1,089 to 69,561. India’s tally jumped from 10 lakh to 20 lakh in 21 days. It took 16 more days to surpass 30 lakh and only 13 more days to cross the 40-lakh mark. As many as 31,07,223 people have recovered from the infection in India, pushing the recovery rate to 77.23%. The fatality rate has declined to 1.73%.
  2. The Centre urged the governments of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus and focus on maintaining the mortality rates in their states below 1%.
  3. The Indian Council of Medical Research recommended “testing for demand” for those who wish to get tested for the coronavirus infection, any person travelling to other countries, or states that mandate a negative Covid report at the point of entry. The states, however, can simplify the modalities to facilitate the testing process, it added.
  4. The Indian Railways has decided to run 80 new special trains from September 12 amid an increase in demand. The new trains include the Vande Bharat Express between New Delhi and Varanasi, a Shatabdi Express between New Delhi and Lucknow and a weekly Shramik train between Valsad in Gujarat and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.
  5. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram criticised the government’s strategies to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and claimed that India was the only country that did not benefit from a lockdown. He added that India may see 65 lakh cases by September-end.
  6. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attributed the rising number of coronavirus cases in the Capital to an increase in the number of tests and said that the situation was under control. He said that the number of tests in Delhi has been doubled, which could be seen as the government launching a counter-attack against the coronavirus.
  7. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh tested negative for the coronavirus and ended his self-isolation. This was the third time Singh got himself tested since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, the director of the New Delhi Municipal Council’s coronavirus cell and three other employees of the civic body tested positive.
  8. Results published in medical journal The Lancet showed that Russia’s coronavirus vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials. The trials of the vaccine, named Sputnik-V, were conducted between June and July, involving 76 participants.
  9. United Nations General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has warned that the coronavirus vaccine should be given to anyone who needs it because even if one country is left out, the virus would continue to spread.
  10. Globally, the virus has infected 2.65 crore people, and 8.73 lakh have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The US has the highest number of cases at 61.99 lakh so far, followed by Brazil with 40.91 lakh. Over 1.73 crore people across the world have recovered from the infection.