10.05 pm: Ministry of Home Affairs constitutes multi-disciplinary teams to visit all private hospitals in Delhi to check the status of compliance issued by the health ministry for testing and treating Covid-19 patients and also to contain the spread of the infections in the Capital, reports ANI. The ministry adds that the teams will start their visit immediately and submit their report within two days.

8.02 pm: Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 tally rises to 7,59,916 with 1,725 new cases, according to ANI. The state’s toll goes up by 17 to 11,945.

8.01 pm: Rajasthan registers 2,169 new cases, taking the state’s case count to 2,27,986, reports ANI. The toll goes up by 12 to 2,078.

8 pm: Chandigarh has decided to reopen the Rock Garden, State Museum, Tagore Theatre, and other tourist spots with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols, according to ANI.

7.58 pm: Visuals from earlier in the day of devotees visiting the Mumba Devi temple in Mumbai, reports ANI. Maharashtra allowed reopening of temples from Monday.

7.55 pm: Two Covid-19 patients in Himachal Pradesh were moved from Keylong area in Lahaul-Spiti to Kullu with the help of 108 ambulance services, reports ANI.

7.19 pm: The British government says the country will open two new laboratories in early 2021 that will more than double its capacity to carry out Covid-19 tests, Reuters reports.

7.16 pm: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she is confident that no meat products infected with the coronavirus were exported from the country to China, according to Reuters. Her statement comes after Beijing said they had detected Covid-19 on its frozen beef products.

7.09 pm: Congress leader Manish Tewary says he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Tewary asks people who have been in contact in the past few days to take caution. “I got up with mild fever around 2 AM last night,” he tweets. “Got myself tested first thing in the morning. Two parallel Tests. No other symptoms so far.”

7.02 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 753 new Covid-19 cases, taking the tally in the state to 8,54,764, according to ANI. The overall tally includes 17,892 active cases, 8,29,991 recoveries and 6,881 deaths.

6.55 pm: Odisha government prohibits Chhath Puja celebrations including mass bathing at river banks and ghats in view of the coronavirus pandemic, reports ANI.

6.52 pm: Jammu and Kashmir reports 390 new Covid-19 cases with 150 from Jammu and 240 from the Kashmir division, according to ANI. The total number of cases in the Union territory is 1,03,009, including 5,588 active cases, 95,824 recoveries and 1,597 deaths.

6.49 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says the state reported 2,710 new infections, 6,567 recoveries and 19 deaths on Monday, according to ANI. There are 70,925 actives cases in the state, he adds.

6.46 pm: The coronavirus tally in Manipur climbs to 22,049 after the state registers 178 new infections, reports ANI. The overall tally includes 224 deaths, 2,993 active cases and 18,832 recoveries.

6.44 pm: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan asks all political parties as well as people to follow Covid-19 guidelines during the local body polls, reports ANI. “Mass procession and roadshows should be avoided for campaigning and on result days,” he adds.

6.41 pm: Maharashtra registers 2,525 Covid-19 cases, taking the tally in the state to 17,49,777, reports PTI. The toll climbs by 60 to 46,304. This is the lowest daily cases count in the state in more than five months.

6.39 pm: Devotees seen wearing masks and adhering to Covid-19 protocol trekked to offer their prayers at the Sabarimala temple as it opened for annual two-month-long Mandala-Makaravilakku season from Monday morning, reports PTI.

5.44 pm: Data from biotechnology company Moderna shows that its Covid-19 vaccine candidate is nearly 95% effective, reports BBC.

5.15 pm: Countries across the Asia-Pacific region have registered record new Covid-19 cases and fresh outbreaks, with Japan facing increasing pressure to reimpose a state of emergency and South Korea warning it was at a “critical crossroads”, Reuters.

5.14 pm: Russia expects to produce primarily freeze-dried Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine doses by the spring, Reuters reports, citing a top official. This will eliminate the need for transport at ultra-low temperatures as part of the country’s strategy to inoculate its population.

5.12 pm: The Central Armed Police Forces will play a major role in coronavirus vaccination programme, even as their various healthcare facilities continue to treat people infected with the virus, Indo Tibetan Border Police Director General S S Deswal tells PTI.

5.11 pm: Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya tests positive for Covid-19, and has been admitted to a private hospital in Mohali in Punjab, according to PTI.

5.09 pm: A drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis may curb the risk of dying for elderly patients with Covid-19, according to a study, reports PTI.

2.43 pm: The tally of coronavirus cases in Andaman and Nicobar Islands rises to 4,536, after nine new infections were reported on Monday, PTI reports.

2.39 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauds the media on the occasion of National Press Day and says journalists have been doing an exceptional service by spreading awareness about the coronavirus. Modi says the media has acted as a valuable stakeholder in helping the government in its initiatives, PTI reports.

2.33 pm: It is easier for coronavirus to spread indoors than outdoors as people stay inside their homes during winter, which provides “a perfect set-up” for the contagion, says Dr Vivek Murthy, the top advisor to United States President-elect Joe Biden on Covid-19, PTI reports.

Murthy also spoke about the concept of pandemic fatigue. “We’ve been at this pandemic now for many months and I get that,” he added. “A part of that fatigue means that people are letting others into their bubble, they’re getting together for in-person dinner parties, game nights and public health departments are now tracing more and more cases back to these kinds of gatherings.”

1.33 pm: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain says the government will not impose a lockdown in the Capital, claiming that the third wave of the coronavirus in the city has passed its peak.

“What we learnt was that the gains from a lockdown is the same as those from wearing masks,” Jain says.

11.10 am: BioNTech co-founder and the co-creator of the Pfizer vaccine Ugur Sahin says life should get back to normal by next winter, BBC reports. He expresses hope that the vaccine would lead to a “dramatic reduction in cases”.

11.03 am: The Parliament’s Winter Session, scheduled for November, may be clubbed with the Budget Session in January amid rising coronavirus cases in the Capital, Hindustan Times reports.

10.59 am: The United Kingdom begins a major trial of a vaccine candidate created by Belgian company Janssen, BBC reports. Preliminary trials of the vaccine a week ago had shown 90% efficacy.

10.54 am: Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla will on Monday hold a meeting with Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Delhi’s chief secretary to rework the containment plan in the Capital amid rising coronavirus cases, Hindustan Times reports.

9.25 am: India records 30,548 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s total to 88,45,127, data from the health ministry shows. The toll rises to 1,30,070 with 435 more deaths. The number of active cases stood at 4,65,478. As many as 82,49,579 people have recovered from the disease so far.

8.57 am: The health ministry says India continues to have one of the lowest cases per million population globally.

8.56 am: Jharkhand bans Chhath Puja celebration in water bodies.

8.53 am: The Sabarimala Temple will open for devotees from Monday, PTI reports.

8.52 am: Delhi’s Covid-19 test positivity rate rises to 15.3 %, highest in 140 days, Hindustan Times reports.

8.46 am: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson self-isolates after coming into contact with a coronavirus-positive person. Johnson had tested positive for the infection in March.

8.38 am: The World Health Organization’s coronavirus dashboard on Sunday showed a record daily tally new Covid-19 cases over the weekend, AFP reports. On Saturday, WHO registered a record 6,60,905 new cases.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had on Friday warned that there was “a long way to go” in the fight against the pandemic.

8.32 am: Religious places open in Maharashtra.

8.30 am: Here are the top updates from Sunday

  • India recorded 41,100 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s total to 88,14,579, data from the health ministry showed on Sunday. The toll rose to 1,29,635 with 447 more deaths. The number of active cases stood at 4,79,216. As many as 82,05,728 people have recovered from the disease so far.
  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the number of coronavirus tests in the Capital would be increased from around 60,000 to over 1 lakh,. The chief minister also said that the Centre has assured him that 750 intensive care unit beds will be made available at the Defence Research and Development Organisation centre.
  • The United States on Saturday registered 1,66,555 Covid-19 cases, taking the tally in the country to 1,09,03,890, John Hopkins University data showed. The toll rose by 1,266 to 2,45,598. This is the twelfth consecutive day when the daily infection tally crossed the 1 lakh mark.
  • The chief adviser for the US government’s Operation Warp Speed coronavirus vaccine programme, Moncef Slaoui, on Friday said that the administration hopes to immunise about 20 million citizens in December and a minimum of 25 million each month next year
  • Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 5.38 crore people and killed 13,10,433 people, according to the John Hopkins University data. The recoveries stand at 3,46,81,795.