1. India on Thursday registered 4,12,262 new coronavirus cases, taking the tally in the country to 2,10,77,410 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. This is the highest rise in daily cases and the second instance, after May 1, when the count rose by more than 4 lakh. The toll climbed by 3,980 deaths – also a record high for India – to 2,30,168.
  2. The Northern Railways cancelled around 28 train services, citing “low patronisation”and the rising coronavirus cases in the country, reported PTI. Among these, are the Shatabdi Express originating from Delhi to Kalka, Habibganj, Amritsar and Chandigarh. Rajdhani trains from Delhi to Chennai and Bilaspur, along with Duronto trains to Jammu Tawi and Pune, were also cancelled.
  3. The Supreme Court said a third wave of the coronavirus will hit the country that will also affect children, and emphasised the need to prepare for it. “When a child goes to hospital, the mother and father will also have to go,” the court said. “That is why vaccination will have to be over for this group of people. We need to plan for this in a scientific way and thus make arrangements.”
  4. Senior virologist Gagandeep Kang said that the trend of rising Covid-19 cases may decline by the end of this month or early June.
  5. Russia has approved a single-dose version of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, its developers announced on Thursday. The new version, called Sputnik Light, has an efficacy of about 80%. Sputnik V had shown a 91.6% efficacy in late stage trials.
  6. On Thursday, the Centre told the SC that it has complied with its order and ensured a supply of 730 metric tonnes to Delhi for the treatment of coronavirus patients. Soon after, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and also promised to ensure that no one dies of oxygen shortage if the Capital receives this amount of the life-saving gas every day.
  7. Very infectious Indian strains of the coronavirus are found in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka now, the Andhra government said.
  8. The Kerala government on Thursday announced a complete lockdown in the state from 6 am on May 8 to May 16. The Uttar Pradesh government extended the coronavirus-related restrictions across the state till 7 am on May 10, while Madhya Pradesh extended curbs till May 15.
  9. The Delhi High Court said the moral fabric of the public had been dismantled after taking note of illegal activities such as hoarding and black-marketing of supplies even as India deals with a severe second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also said that the existing medical infrastructure in the capital was in shambles and was being completely exposed when it was put to test by the coronavirus.
  10. The United States reissued its travel advisory on India, urging Americans not to travel to the country due to an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. The US had issued a travel warning earlier on April 28. Both of them were marked “Level 4”, the highest warning level. Meanwhile, the coronavirus has now infected 15.47 crore people across the world and killed over 32.37 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 9.12 crore people have recovered from the infection.