1. India on Friday registered yet another record increase in coronavirus infections as 1,31,968 new cases were reported in 24 hours. The country’s overall infection count since March 2020 rose to 1,30,60,542. Deaths rose by 780, driving the toll in the country to 1,67,642 since March last year. The active caseload stood at 9,79,608.
  2. Karnataka registered 7,955 coronavirus cases – its highest daily one-day count this year, reported PTI. With this, the infection tally in the state rose to 10.48 lakh. The toll climbed by 46 to 12,813. Delhi also recorded its highest one-day Covid-19 infection count this year, reporting 8,521 new cases that took the tally to 7,06,526. The toll rose to 11,196 after 39 people died.
  3. Maharashtra, which has reported more than 55,000 cases in the last few days, recorded 58,993 new infections, reported PTI. The overall infection count stood at 32,88,540. The toll rose by 301 to 57,329. Meanwhile, Gujarat registered a record 4,541 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the state’s tally to 3,37,015. The toll in the state went up by 42 to 4,697.
  4. Schools in Delhi will be closed for all classes until further orders amid the surge in coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced. The Haryana government also ordered schools to be shut down till April 30 for students up to class 8 due in view of the pandemic, reported India Today.
  5. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said the state’s vaccine stock will be over in the next two days and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately provide 30 lakh doses, ANI reported. Several other states have complained of vaccine shortages. Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi urged Modi to immediately halt the export of coronavirus vaccines.
  6. Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is in talks with the Indian government to start early-stage clinical trials of its single-dose coronavirus vaccine.
  7. The Railways said that there were no plans to stop train services, amid the rise in coronavirus cases. “Train services will continue to be provided as per the demand,” Railway board Chairperson Suneet Sharma said, according to ANI.
  8. Amid the surge in Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra, migrant workers, fearing another lockdown, have begun returning to their hometowns. Migrants in Delhi are also planning to leave for their native places. Meanwhile, the Central Railway has stopped selling platform tickets at six stations to avoid crowding. Platform tickets will not be issued at Mumbai CSMT, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Kalyan, Thane, Dadar and Panvel, from where long-distance trains operate
  9. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences will perform only urgent surgeries from Saturday, in order to free up resources to deal with the rise in coronavirus cases.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 13.37 crore people and killed 29,00,922, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 7.60 crore people have recovered from the infection.