10.40 pm: The White House coronavirus task force has warned that much of the country is in the grips of an “unrelenting” rise in coronavirus cases, stressing on tough countermeasures, reports Reuters.

9.19 pm: West Bengal reports the highest single-day recovery of 4,015 coronavirus patients, taking the total number of cured people to 3,25,888, the health department says in a bulletin. The discharge rate was recorded at 88.16%.

8.45 pm: Delhi records 5,891 new coronavirus cases, taking the city’s tally to 3,81,644. This is the third consecutive day when the national Capital reported more than 5,000 cases and the highest yet so far. Meanwhile, the toll has risen to 6,470 with 47 more deaths.

8.01 pm: Spain’s Canary Islands pass a law making foreign tourists visiting the autonomous community to present negative Covid-19 test results, as part of its efforts to curb imported infections, according to Reuters.

7.53 pm: An official survey in England says that new Covid-19 cases in the country rose by 51,900 each day last week, reports Reuters. The ONS Infection Survey says it was an increase of 50%.

7.49 pm: Andhra Pradesh registers 2,886 new cases, raising the tally in the state to 8,20,565, reports ANI. There are 25,514 active cases, 7,88,375 recoveries and the toll is 6,676.

7.46 pm: Kerala reports 6,638 new coronavirus cases and 7,928 recoveries, according to ANI. The toll is 1,457 in the state and the active cases tally stands at 90,565.

7.44 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Rajasthan rises to 1,95,213 after the state reported 1,794 new infections, reports ANI. There are 15,251 active cases in the state and the toll is 1,898.

7.41 pm: Manipur registers 221 new Covid-19 cases and four deaths, according to ANI. The coronavirus infection tally in the state is 18,272, including 13,805 recoveries, 4,303 active cases and 164 deaths.

7.39 pm: The Covid-19 cases in Uttarakhand rises to 61,915 with the state reporting 349 new cases, according to ANI. The toll goes up by two to 1,011.

7.36 pm: Maharashtra reports 6,190 new coronavirus cases, pushing the tally in the state to 16,72,858, reports ANI. The overall tally includes 15,03,050 recoveries, 43,837 deaths and 1,25,418 active cases.

5.15 pm: The Jammu and Kashmir administration increases the limit on the number of pilgrims allowed to visit the Vaishno Devi shrine from 7,000 to 15,000 per day, with effect from November 1.

5.14 pm: West Bengal says it will employ 17,000 doctors to monitor Covid-19 patients in home isolation, reports PTI. They are now being monitored by tele-callers employed by the state’s health department.

5.07 pm: The number of coronavirus cases in Mizoram goes up by 38 to 2,694, reports PTI. The overall tally includes 435 active cases, 2,258 recoveries and one death.

5.05 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports 2,237 new Covid-19 infections, taking the tally in the state to 4,80,082, reports PTI. The toll rises by 24 to reach 7,007. The number of active cases in the state stands at 24,431.

4.53 pm: The Centre asks states to form committees for the coordination and overseeing Covid-19 vaccination drive while making sure that there are minimal disruptions in other routine healthcare services, reports PTI. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also asks the states to track social media to dispel rumours which could impact the community acceptance of the coronavirus vaccine.

3.43 pm: Visuals on ANI show people thronging the Crawford Market in Mumbai during the ongoing festival season, with little regard to physical distancing rules.

3.38 pm: Hungary’s first shipment of coronavirus vaccine is expected to arrive in late December or early January, Prime Minister Viktor Orban says, according to Reuters. Orban said Hungary was talking to China and Russia about vaccines and by spring, it could have access to two or three different vaccines.

There is as yet no clinically proven vaccine against the coronavirus, though nearly 200 candidates are in development worldwide.

3.36 pm: South Korea steps up efforts to ensure all physical distancing guidelines are followed during Halloween, warning this year’s party “could really turn scary” as the country tries to avoid another resurgence in coronavirus infections, Reuters reports.

Seoul’s government has dispatched officials and police to 153 nightclubs in the city ahead of the weekend to make sure facilities follow strict guidelines and visitors log in names and use quick response code systems for contract tracing.

3.34 pm: At least 97 more people tested positive for the coronavirus in Tripura on Friday, pushing the state’s tally to 30,663, PTI reports. The toll rises to 343, after one more person succumbed to the disease.

2.33 pm: The mayor of Thane, Maharashtra, orders an audit of all Covid-19 deaths reported within the civic limits of the city, PTI reports. In a letter to Thane Municipal Commissioner Vipin Sharma on Thursday, Naresh Mhaske directed that a committee be formed to undertake the task.

2.28 pm: As many as 23 personnel of the Gujarat Police tested positive for the coronavirus in Kavadia on Thursday, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visited the town, PTI reports. Modi, who is on a two-day trip to his home state, arrived at Kevadia on Friday and will stay here till Saturday afternoon.

12.30 pm: India’s active cases are below 6 lakh after 85 days, says government.

12.28 pm: A new study by researchers in the US shows that the levels of viral genetic material, or viral load, in coronavirus patients at the time of hospitalisation can predict poor outcomes “above and beyond age, other medical problems, and severity of illness on presentation”, PTI reports.

12.24 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the surge in cases in the Capital is due to aggressive contact tracing and testing, ANI reports. “Around 35% per cent of our beds are occupied,” he adds.

Jain also advises people to keep wearing masks. “Until there is a vaccine, masks should be considered as vaccine,” he says. “If you wear masks, it’ll protect you from pollution and Covid-19 both.”

12.20 pm: The coronavirus tally in Maharashtra’s Thane city rises to 2,10,096 on Friday as it registers 1,802 news cases, PTI reports. The city’s toll rises by 40 to 5,302.

10.59 am: Arunachal Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 14,668 on Friday, as 88 more people tested positive for the infection, PTI reports.The toll climbs up to 37 with one more fatality recorded in 24 hours.

10.56 am: Telangana registered 1,531 new coronavirus cases and six deaths on Thursday, taking the state’s tally to 2,37,187, ANI reports. The toll rose to 1,330.

10.53 am: The United States clocked a record-number of over 90,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, AFP reports. The country recorded 91,295 new cases in the 24 hours up to 8:30 pm on Thursday (6am IST on Friday).

10.48 am: Taiwan has not reported a locally-transmitted case of the coronavirus in 200 days, Bloomberg reports. The country’s tally stands at 550 with only seven fatalities reported so far. It last reported a local case on April 12.

9.36 am: India’s coronavirus tally rises to 80,88,851 on Friday with 48,648 new cases recorded in 24 hours. The country’s toll goes up by 563 to 1,21,090. India’s active cases stood at 5,94,386, while the number of recoveries reached 73,73,375.

9.00 am: The health ministry says India’s positivity rate is constantly falling with aggressive testing.

8.55 am: The International Monetary Fund cut its growth forecasts for Britain on Thursday, AP reports. It said the country’s economy will shrink by 10.4% this year, instead of 9.8% .IMF attributed the downgrade to the surge in coronavirus cases in the counttry.

8.52 am: Veteran actor Soumitra Chatterjee’s health remained critical on Thursday, according to PTI. His doctors, however, said that he is responding to treatment.

Chatterjee was admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata on October 6 after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

8.44 am: The World Health Organization is planning to set up a compensation fund for citizens in poor countries, who might suffer side-effects from coronavirus vaccines, Reuters reported on Thursday. The scheme could cover 92 low-income countries.

8.38 am: Odisha reports 1,617 new cases and 13 fresh fatalities. The state now has 13,711 active coronavirus cases.

8.35 am: Here are the top updates from Thursday

  • India’s coronavirus tally rose to 80,40,203 on Thursday as it recorded 49,881 new cases in 24 hours. The country’s toll went up by 517 to 1,20,527. India’s active cases stood at 6,03,687, while the number of recoveries reached 73,15,989.
  • Delhi on Thursday reported 5,739 new coronavirus cases, a record one-day increase in infections during the pandemic. The city now has total 3,75,753 cases. This was the second consecutive day when the national Capital reported more than 5,000 cases.
  • Biotechnology company Moderna said it is preparing to launch an experimental Covid-19 vaccine and has already received $1.1 billion, or over Rs 8,000 crore, in deposits for supply. The company is one of the frontrunners in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.
  • France announced a second lockdown to battle a surge in coronavirus cases.
  • Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said he thought it was too early to say if the record number of coronavirus cases reported in the Capital the previous day indicated the start of a third wave of infections. However, he said it was possible the city was “already in that phase”.
  • The coronavirus has infected more than 4.4 crore people globally and killed 11,73,270, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Nearly 3 crore people have recovered from the infection.