1. India’s coronavirus case tally increased by 86,821 in the last 24 hours to 63,12,584, data from the health ministry showed. Deaths from coronavirus infections rose by 1,181 to 98,678. The government has eased more restrictions and allowed cinema halls to reopen at 50% capacity. The country’s recovery rate is 83.33%, while the death rate stood at 1.57%. The Centre said that active cases of the coronavirus in India remained below 10 lakh for the tenth successive day
  2. Maharashtra reported 16,476 new cases, taking its tally to 14,00,922. The state’s toll rose by 394 to 37,056. Karnataka, meanwhile, recorded over 10,000 cases, which pushed its tally to 6,11,837. The state’s toll rose by 130 to 8,994. Delhi reported 3,037 new cases, which pushed its tally to 2,82,752. The Capital’s toll rose by 40 to 5,401.
  3. A contact tracing study published in the journal Science has revealed that the transmission of the coronavirus in India has been mainly driven by super-spreaders. The researchers, including those from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, found that over 70% of infected patients in the country did not pass the disease to any of their contacts, while 8% of infected individuals accounted for 60% of new infections. It revealed that children are more efficient transmitters of the virus than initially believed.
  4. The Punjab government announced relaxations in coronavirus-related restrictions, including ending night curfew and lifting the lockdown on Sundays amid a decline in cases. The state has reported 1,15,151 cases and 3,451 deaths so far.
  5. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has said the third sero survey shows that 25.1% of the participants have developed antibodies to the coronavirus. Jain added that the last survey put the figure at 28.7%.
  6. The Supreme Court accepted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation recommendations for refunding passengers for airline tickets that were cancelled because of the lockdown enforced to contain the coronavirus. The court allowed airline companies to set up a credit shell facility in the names of passengers. If the credit is not used, airlines have to mandatorily refund the ticket money to the passengers by March 31, 2021.
  7. A Supreme Court bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud quashed a Gujarat government notification exempting factories from paying overtime wages to workers, saying the coronavirus pandemic cannot be a reason to remove statutory provisions of labour laws.
  8. Congress leader Ahmed Patel said he had been diagnosed with Covid-19. He requested all the people who came in contact with him to get tested.
  9. United States-based biotech firm Moderna would not seek an emergency use authorisation for its coronavirus vaccine before the presidential elections in the country, company’s Chief Executive Officer Stephane Bancel has said. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, meanwhile, called for an “immediate infusion” of $15 billion to a global pool for the procurement and distribution of vaccines to tackle the pandemic.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 3.4 crore people and killed 10,15,429, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 2.36 crore people have recovered worldwide so far.