1. India on Thursday set yet another record with 3,79,257 new coronavirus cases, pushing the overall infection count since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 to 1,83,76,524. This is the highest ever one-day rise in cases reported by any country so far and the eighth straight day when India has recorded more than 3 lakh cases. The country also recorded 3,645 deaths in a day for the first time, taking the toll to 2,04,832. The number of active cases has crossed the 30-lakh mark.
  2. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he held a meeting with the officials on Covid-19 vaccination drive in the Capital. “Prepared a plan to vaccinate all above 18 years in the next three months,” he said. “We will set up vaccination centres on a large scale. All eligible people must come forward to get vaccinated.”
  3. Bharat Biotech announced that its Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, will now cost Rs 400 per dose for state governments. It was priced at Rs 600 per shot earlier for states and the Centre will buy it at Rs 150 per dose.
  4. The Centre on Thursday asked all private vaccination centres to return their unused stock of Covid vaccine shots by Friday, reported NDTV. They cannot use them for the new round of inoculations opened to all above 18 from May 1. “Any unutilized vaccine stocks, balance as on April 30, will have to be returned to the cold chain point from where the stocks were issued,” read the order.
  5. The Madras High Court wondered what the Narendra Modi-led government has been doing for the last 14 months as citizens scramble to source oxygen, medicine and hospital beds for patients during the devastating second wave of the pandemic.
  6. Uttar Pradesh extended the weekend lockdown durations till 7 am on Tuesday and the lockdown comes into effect on Friday at 8 pm. Tamil Nadu extended the night curfew and imposed a complete lockdown on Sundays. Maharashtra government extended the lockdown-like restrictions till May 15. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand suspended the Char Dham Yatra, which was scheduled to begin from May 14. 
  7. The Delhi government said it has run out of Covid-19 vaccines and is awaiting supplies from drug manufacturers ahead of the third phase of vaccination drive. A top Mumbai civic body official said that vaccination for the 18-44 age group will not begin on May 1 in the city. Mumbai’s civic body said that vaccination will not be conducted in the city for three days, starting from April 30 as stocks were not available.
  8. As many as 168 scientists from various research and teaching institutions across the country have urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make coronavirus-related genomic and testing data public.
  9. India has turned down an offer of help from the United Nations for an integrated chain supply for coronavirus-related material, saying that it has its own “robust system” to manage logistics to deal with the pandemic. Meanwhile, the United States on Wednesday advised its citizens to leave India as soon as possible because of the country’s worsening coronavirus crisis.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 14.92 crore people and killed over 31.46 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 8.65 crore people have recovered from the infection.