10.40 pm: Mumbai records 2,823 new coronavirus cases, 2,933 recoveries and 48 deaths on Thursday, pushing the state’s overall count to 2,22,761, ANI reports. The toll from the disease stands at 9,293 and as many as 1,86,675 people have recovered so far.

8.05 pm: Shutting down schools during the coronavirus pandemic could result in more overall deaths in the long term, according to a new analysis of the data that informed the UK government’s decision on lockdown back in March, PTI reports. The study, led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, was published in the British Medical Journal.

8.03 pm: Gujarat registers 1,278 new coronavirus cases and 10 deaths on Thursday, pushing the state’s overall count to 1,47,951, ANI reports. The toll from the disease stands at 3,541.

8.02 pm: Uttarakhand registers 400 new coronavirus cases, pushing the state’s tally of infections to 53,359, ANI reports. The toll from the disease is 702.

8.00 pm: Rajasthan registers 2,138 new coronavirus cases and 15 deaths on Thursday, pushing the state’s overall count to 1,52,605, ANI reports. The toll stands at 1,605.

7.59 pm: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Thursday decided to reopen the second phase of the Gulmarg cable car between Kongdoori and Apharwat for commercial operation from October 10, amid necessary coronavirus precautions, PTI reports.

7.58 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Thursday inaugurated a new state-of-the-art cryogenic oxygen plant, the biggest in the state, which would help with oxygen supplies in hospitals, PTI reports.

7.56 pm: Puducherry registers 386 new coronavirus cases, five deaths and 326 recoveries on Thursday, ANI reports. With this, the Union Territory’s tally rises to 30,539 with 556 deaths.

7.55 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa held a meeting with district officials on Thursday to review the coronavirus situation in the state, ANI reports.

7.54 pm: Punjab records 930 new coronavirus cases and 29 deaths on Thursday, pushing the state’s tally to 1,21,716 and the toll to 3741, ANI reports.

7.52 pm: United States President Donald Trump said he will not participate in a virtual debate for the presidential elections with his Democratic Party opponent Joe Biden. The Commission on Presidential Debates had announced earlier in the day that the second debate will be held virtually on October 15, as Trump has contracted the coronavirus.

Also read:

US elections: Donald Trump says he won’t participate in virtual presidential debate with Joe Biden

6.28 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 3,376 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the state’s tally to 4,27,459, PTI reports. The toll from the disease rises by 45 to 6,245.

6.23 pm: Kerala records 5,445 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Thursday, ANI reports.

6.22 pm: Tamil Nadu registers 5,088 new coronavirus cases, 5,718 recoveries and 68 deaths, pushing the state’s tally to 6,40,943, ANI reports. The toll rises to 10,052.

6.18 pm: The Centre permits political gatherings in Bihar and also in those constituencies where bypolls are to be held with certain restrictions, PTI reports. Not more than 200 people would be allowed to assemble in a close space or a hall, while for open spaces, the maximum limit would depend on the size of the area, it says.

4.30 pm: Union Home Minister Amit Shah appeals to citizens to come together for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s movement against the coronavirus and help spread awareness about the infection.

4.12 pm: The Odisha government asks district collectors to consider the possibility of opening up all places of worship in the state where compliance to Covid-19 guidelines is feasible, PTI reports. The government has sought a report on the matter in 10 days.

4.09 pm: The Gujarat government grants permission to private laboratories to conduct rapid antibody tests for detecting coronavirus infection, PTI reports. Till now, designated private laboratories in the state were allowed to conduct only RT-PCR tests, which are more accurate.

3.22 pm: A study by researchers from the University College London has shown that nearly 86% of the people who tested positive for the coronavirus during the lockdown in the United Kingdom did not have any of the known symptoms such as cough, fever and loss of taste or smell, PTI reports.

The researchers studied a representative population sample of 36,061 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which comprised of people who were tested between April 26 and June 27.

3.15 pm: Australia’s New South Wales state reports 12 new cases on Thursday, according to Reuters. This is the state’s biggest one day count since September 2.

2.58 pm: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering imposing additional local coronavirus restrictions in parts of northern England as the second wave of the pandemic intensifies, Reuters reports.

1.47 pm: Ladakh reports 82 new cases on Thursday, taking its tally to 4,802, PTI reports. The Union territory’s toll rises by two to 63.

1.44 pm: The minister adds that domestic travel is also picking up. “With regard to the number of daily domestic air passengers, the figure on 2nd and 3rd October was 1,76,000,” he says, according to ANI. “Now it’s our assessment, by the end of this month, we’ll be at 2,00,000. Between Diwali and the year’s end, we will reach 3,00,000.”

1.42 pm: Puri adds that more than 20 lakh people have been brought back and flown out through Vande Bharat flights.

1.36 pm: Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says it is uncertain till when the air bubble arrangements will last. “It is difficult to say as there is no country which has completely opened its borders for all,” Hindustan Times quotes him as saying. “It depends on the availability of a vaccine as countries will feel more confident once a vaccine is there.” He hints that the arrangement is likely to continue till March-April.

1.34 pm: The Centre adds that the national average of daily tests per million population stands at 865.

1.32 pm: The government adds that India’s cumulative positivity rate is 8.19%.

1.31 pm: The health ministry says nearly 82% of the deaths reported in the last 24 hours are concentrated in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.

1.05 pm: The Delhi government has decided to end the system of putting up posters outside houses of people under home quarantine due to the coronavirus, which has their names and other details, The Hindu reports, citing officials.

1.02 pm: The World Bank says that India’s gross domestic product is expected to contract by 9.6% this fiscal, which is reflective of the nationwide lockdown imposed to tackle the pandemic, reports PTI. It notes that the country’s economic situation is much worse than ever seen before.

1 pm: Odisha’s coronavirus tally rises to 2,44,142 as 3,144 more people, including a ruling BJD MLA, tests positive for the infection, reports PTI. With 16 more fatalities, the state’s toll stands at 974.

10.42 am: India declines a proposal from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to conduct a large study on the effectiveness of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus, Reuters reports. An expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation observes that there is not enough data available on the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine from early-stage trials abroad. The panel adds that no inputs were available about Indian participants. The drug regulator asked Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to first conduct a smaller trial of the vaccine.

Read here: Coronavirus: India rejects proposal to conduct large study for Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine

9.33 am: India’s coronavirus tally rose to 68,35,655 with 78,524 new cases on Thursday. The country’s toll now stands at 1,05,526 after 971 additional deaths in the last 24 hours. India’s recovery and fatality rates are 85.25% and 1.54%, respectively.

8.52 am: Prime Minister Modi tweets that we need to “continue the momentum and protect our citizens from the virus”.

8.40 am: Top US vaccine expert and whistleblower Rick Bright resigns from federal government, reports CNN.

8.38 am: The Election Commission has reduced the maximum number of “star campaigners” for recognised parties in the Bihar elections from 40 to 30, reports PTI. For unrecognised registered political parties, the maximum number of star campaigners has been slashed from 20 to 15.

8.34 am: US President Donald Trump describes getting coronavirus as a blessing in disguise. In a video message, he tells the citizens that he will get them the same medicine that cured him for free. “I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president because I feel great,” he adds. “I feel like perfect. So, I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise.”

8.31 am: The White House being sanitised.

8.30 am: Kerala ministers MM Mani and KT Jaleel test positive. While Mani has been admitted to a hospital, Jaleel is under observation at his official residence.

8.28 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch an awareness campaign today to promote Covid-19 appropriate behaviour ahead of the upcoming festival and winter season, reports Hindustan Times.

8.25 am: Here are the top updates from Wednesday

  • India’s coronavirus tally rose to 67,57,131 with 72,048 new cases on Wednesday. The country’s toll jumped to 1,04,555 after 986 additional deaths in the last 24 hours. India’s recovery and fatality rates are 85.02% and 1.55%, respectively.
  • Kerala recorded more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases today, the highest single-day count for the state so far. Four districts reported over 1,000 cases – Kozhikode (1,576), Malappuram (1,350), Ernakulam (1,201) and Thiruvananthapuram (1,182). Meanwhile, five other districts recorded more than 500 cases. The total number of infections rose to 2,51,405. The toll increased to 906 with 22 more deaths. State Power Minister MM Mani also tested positive for the infection.
  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that all the weekly markets in the Capital will now be allowed to operate. So far, only two markets per zone were allowed to function. A health bulletin released by the Delhi government showed that the coronavirus positivity rate in the city has fallen below 5%. The rate stood at 4.9%, which is the lowest in more than 100 days.
  • The number of people recovered has exceeded those with active infection by more than 48 lakh, said the Union Health Ministry. “The national recovery rate has jumped past 85% today with the continuous streak of high number of recovered cases being reported in the past few weeks,” said the ministry in a statement. “The recovered cases have exceeded the new confirmed again during the past 24 hours.”  
  • The World Bank praised the efforts to check the spread of the coronavirus in Mumbai’s Dharavi area, which is one of the world’s largest slums. It said that the success stemmed from a combination of community involvement, customised solutions and perseverance.  
  • US Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden said he is against participating in his second debate with Donald Trump if the president still suffers from the coronavirus. The first of the three presidential debates between Biden and Trump was held on September 29. The second debate is scheduled for October 15 in Miami and the final one on October 22 in Nashville, Tennessee.  
  • The global coronavirus count crossed 3.58 crore and the toll rose to 10,50,974, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of recoveries crossed 2.50 crore.