1. India on Thursday registered 3,62,727 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 2,37,03,665 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The country’s toll rose to 2,58,317 as it reported 4,120 deaths in the last day.
  2. The Union health ministry on Thursday said Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V will be available in Indian markets from next week. This is the third Covid-19 vaccine to receive emergency-use authorisation in India. Over 200 crore vaccine shots are likely to be available by December, NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul said.
  3. The gap between two doses of the Covishield vaccine can be increased to 12-16 weeks, the Centre said on Thursday. Currently, the recommended gap is six to eight weeks. However, no changes were made to the dosage regimen of Covaxin, whose recommended gap period is four to six weeks. Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech got approval for clinical trials of Covaxin on children aged 2-18.
  4. The Delhi government wrote to the Centre, saying the surplus oxygen being given to the city can be supplied to other states, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said. Sisodia said the national Capital had a requirement of 700 metric tonnes of oxygen when the number of cases was rising, which had now come down to 582 metric tonnes.
  5. Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader DV Sadananda Gowda sought to downplay the crisis of coronavirus vaccine shortages in the country, saying that “some things are beyond our control”. “I want to ask you, if the court says tomorrow that you have to give this much [of vaccine], if it has not been produced yet, should we hang ourselves?”
  6. Maharashtra extended the restrictions enforced to control the spread of the coronavirus till June 1. As per the current rules, only those who provide essential services would be allowed to travel in public transport. Government offices would be allowed to operate at 15% capacity, while attendance at weddings was capped at 25.
  7. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi again hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the spiraling coronavirus situation in India, saying that along with vaccines, oxygen and medicines, he was also missing.
  8. The Centre rejected the Punjab government’s allegations that it supplied the state faulty ventilators under the PM CARES Fund. The Ministry of Health claimed the lack of infrastructure in the state’s hospitals had resulted in the malfunctioning of the machines.
  9. Fourteen doctors deployed in government hospitals in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district resigned from their posts, alleging excessive review of their work and misbehaviour from district, sub-divisional and block-level authorities.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 16 crore people and killed more than 33.26 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 9.58 crore people have recovered from the infection.