1. India’s coronavirus count rose to 61,45,291 on Tuesday after it reported 70,589 new infections in the last 24 hours. The country’s toll went up by 776 to 96,318. As many as 51,01,397 people have recovered so far. India’s recovery rate is 83.01%, while the death rate stood at 1.57%.
  2. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said he has tested positive for the coronavirus, but is asymptomatic. He will remain in home quarantine.
  3. The Centre said that a significant section of the population remain vulnerable to Covid-19. Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Balram Bhargava revealed the results of the second countrywide sero-survey. The prevalence in individuals above 10 years was 6.6%, and among adults (over 18 years of age) 7.1%, he said. The ICMR found that in urban slums the prevalence was 15.6% and non-slums was 8.2%, but the prevalence of cases in rural areas was 4.4%.
  4. The Tamil Nadu government extended the lockdown in the state until October 31, but provided some more relaxations. Educational institutions will remain closed, but weekly locals markets have been allowed to reopen. The number of domestic flights to land at Chennai airport will be 100 a day. Film shootings with a maximum of 100 people at a time will be permitted.
  5. German airline Lufthansa cancelled all flights to India from Wednesday till October 20. The airline said its flight schedule was rejected by Indian authorities. “This application process is necessary since India has so far not accepted the invitation by the German government to discuss details regarding a temporary travel agreement between both countries,” the airline said in a statement.
  6. The Serum Institute of India said it would get a further $150 million (Rs 1,107 crore) in funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the GAVI vaccines alliance to make an additional 100 million vaccine doses for India and other low-and middle-income countries next year.
  7. The Supreme Court directed states and Union Territories to supply dry rations to sex workers identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation and district legal authorities without insisting on the production of identity documents like ration card amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  8. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the death of 10 lakh people was an “agonising milestone” made worse by the “savageness” of the disease. Guterres called the toll a “mind-numbing figure”.
  9. The World Bank on Monday said that East Asia and the Pacific region is expected to grow at 0.9% this year, the lowest since 1967, due to the coronavirus pandemic. The bank warned that up to 38 million people were expected to remain stuck or be pushed back into poverty in the region.
  10. The worldwide coronavirus toll crossed 10 lakh on Tuesday. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.33 crore people and killed 1,002,628, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of recoveries has crossed 2.31 crore.