10.54 pm: Karnataka registers 25,311 new cases and 529 deaths on Monday, The Indian Express reports. Bengaluru alone accounts for 5,70 cases and 315 deaths.

10.48 pm: Maharashtra records 22,122 new coronavirus cases and 361 deaths on Monday. The state’s total count of cases rises to 56,02,019, while the toll reaches 89,212.

Mumbai records 1,057 cases and 48 deaths in the last day.

9.50 pm: The Supreme Court directs the states to provide dry ration to migrants workers, Bar and Bench reports. It also instructs the Centre to expedite work on the National Database for Unorganised Workers.

9.47 pm: The Delhi government will launch the Capital’s first drive-through vaccination booth at the Vegas Mall in Dwarka, NDTV reports. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is likely to inaugurate the booth on May 26.

9.40 pm: An official of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike allegedly assaults a man who mistook a Covid-19 testing line to be that for vaccination and refused to get tested, ANI reports.

The administrative body’s commissioner says an inquiry will be conducted. “There’s no question of forceful testing,” he says. “We condemn any physical altercation that happened.”

9.35 pm: The Centre allocates over 19,000 more Amphotericin B vials to the states, Union Minister Sadananda Gowda says on Monday. The drug is used to treat mucormycosis or black fungus.

8.10 pm: Here’s a look at the cases in states on Monday evening

Rajasthan: 4,414 new cases, 103 deaths in a day; total cases 9,20,456, while toll is now 7,806;

Gujarat: 3,187 cases, 45 deaths; total cases now 7,91,657, while toll is 9,621;

Bihar: 2,844 cases; total cases now 6,92,420, toll is 4,642;

7.53 pm: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa says there is no shortage of oxygen, ANI reports. “We are also arranging ICU beds as much as required. We have 3,000 beds in 28 Covid Care Centres in Bengaluru, including 1,000 oxygen beds.”

He adds: “I have requested people to get tested, mainly in villages and slums. We’ll make all arrangements for them, we’ll provide food, beds & every facility & we request them to come and get tested. Situation is not the same as in the beginning so we request your support too.”

7.50 pm: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says public schools in the city will fully reopen for in-person learning this September, The New York Times reports.

7.45 pm: Kerala reports 17,821 new cases and 196 deaths in a day, taking the total number of infections to 23,35,762, while the toll is 7,554.

This is the highest single-day toll in the state, according to NDTV.

6.22 pm: Goa reached reports 1,401 new cases and 38 deaths in a day. With this, the state’s tally of infections rises to 1,47,861, while the toll stands at 2,421, PTI reports.

6.18 pm: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati says the government is ignoring the spread of the coronavirus in rural areas and merely making announcements, PTI reports.

“India has made global headlines due to the extensive spread of coronavirus in rural areas which lack basic amenities, but governments are making announcements regarding proper preparedness and providing relief to the people from the pandemic in the same way promises are made during election,” Mayawati says.

She adds that primary healthcare centres are lying unused in Uttar Pradesh and other states as there are no doctors and government employees. She urges states to immediately activate such facilities so that poor and destitute people in rural areas can get treatment.

6.15 pm: Himachal Pradesh extends the lockdown till May 31, PTI reports. It was initially expected to end on May 26.

6.13 pm: The Delhi High Court says the gap between demand and supply of Amphotericin B, the drug used to treat black fungus infections, is too wide, PTI reports. The court urges the government to take drastic measures to fix this gap.

6.11 pm: Bihar extends the lockdown in the state till June 1, PTI reports. “The lockdown has had a good impact and there has been a decline in the corona contagion. Hence, a decision has been taken to continue with the lockdown till June 01,” Kumar says. It was first imposed on May 5, and has since been extended several times.

6.08 pm: The Delhi uint of the BJP claims that the Aam Aadmi Party in the national Capital did not enforce the price cap on medical facilities for Covid patients, leading to “cheating and looting”, PTI reports.

6.05 pm: Jharkhand reports 1,345 new coronavirus cases and 37 deaths in 24 hours. The number of infections is lower than Sunday’s, while the number of fatalities is the least so far in May, PTI reports. The state’s total tally of infections is now 3,30,417.

6.02 pm: Several experts have said that the calls for vaccinating Class 12 students before board examinations is important but also impractical right now, PTI reports.

6 pm: The Supreme Court seeks the Centre’s response on policies or guidelines regarding issuing death certificates to Covid patients for the purpose of availing ex-gratia assistance, Live Law reports.

5.55 pm: Andhra Pradesh reports 12,994 new cases and 96 deaths in a day. This takes the state’s active cases to 2,03,762, while the toll rises to 10,222.

5.53 pm: Pfizer says it will supply vaccines only to central governments and supranational organisations, ANI reports. The statement comes after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Pfizer and Moderna have refused to sell the doses directly to the Delhi government.

5.45 pm: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation orders action against passengers and staff of a chartered SpiceJet flight after a couple got married on board the aircraft.

“On the incident of Madurai couple getting married onboard SpiceJet flight yesterday, the DGCA has directed SpiceJet to lodge complaint against those not following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour with relevant authorities,” a DGCA official tells the Hindustan Times. “The crew has been de-rostered. We are looking into this and will take strict action.”

5.40 pm: Pharmaceutical firm Panacea Biotec begins manufacturing Sputnik V vaccines at its facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh. It is expected to produce 100 million doses in a year.

5.11 pm: The Delhi government imports 6,000 oxygen cylinders from China to prepare for a possible third wave of coronavirus, PTI reports.

5.08 pm: The Delhi High Court directs refillers providing oxygen cylinders to hospitals to regularly update data related to supplies on the Aam Aadmi Party government’s portal, PTI reports.

4.48 pm: All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director Dr Randeep Guleria says mucormycosis or “black fungus” is not a communicable disease. “In 90 to 95% cases, it is found in cases where patients are diabetic and have been given steroids,” he adds.

He says that fungal infections like mucormycosis, aspergillosis and candida should be referred to by their names rather colours.

4.43 pm: Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Union health ministry, explains that vaccines cannot become immediately available after production. “Stability and sterility studies are done after production,” he says. “This takes about a week. After this, vaccines come in batches and are sent to the Central Drugs Laboratory in Kasauli for testing. This takes a day.”

4.38 pm: On Pfizer and Moderna refusing to sell vaccines directly to the states, the health ministry says: “Most of the time their order is already full. It depends on their surplus how much they can provide to India. They will come back to the government of India and we will ensure and facilitate the supply.”

4.32 pm: All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director Dr Randeep Guleria says Covid-19 is causing mild symptoms in children. He says that there is no evidence to suggest that the third wave of the pandemic would be more harmful for children. However, he adds that the pandemic has affected their education.

4.28 pm: The health ministry says 19.60 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far.

Source: PIB

4.18 pm: Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Union health ministry, says positivity rate in India has continuously decreased.

Source: PIB

4.13 pm: The health ministry says there has been a continuous decline in Covid-19 cases since India reached its peak on May 7.

Source: PIB

4.11 pm: The health ministry holds a press briefing on the Covid-19 situation

4.05 pm: Delhi records 1,550 new coronavirus cases and 207 deaths on Monday. This is the Capital’s lowest one-day rise in cases since March 30, NDTV reports.

The Capital’s total count of cases rises to 14,18,418 since the pandemic broke out in January last year and the toll goes up to 23,409.

Delhi’s positivity rate in the last 24 hours stands at 2.52%.

1.50 pm: South Delhi Municipal Corporation sets up a Covid-19 centre for children in city’s Malviya Nagar area, reports ANI.

1.48 pm: Uttarakhand government spokesperson Subodh Uniyal says that the Covid-19 curfew in the state has been extended till June 1, reports ANI. He says that shops selling essential commodities to remain open from 8 am till 11 am. On May 28, the public will be free to travel between 8am and 12 pm for the purchase of essential commodities.

1.43 pm: The Centre allows onsite registration and appointment for the 18-44 years age group on CoWIN platform. However, the feature will only be available at government Covid-19 vaccination centres presently.

1.38 pm: Pharmaceutical companies Roche India and Cipla announce the launch of Roche’s Antibody Cocktail in India for the treatment of mild to moderate coronavirus in patients who are at high risk, reports News18. The product is priced at Rs 59,750.

“The first batch of the Antibody Cocktail [containing drugs casirivimab and imdevimab) is now available in India while a second batch will be made available by mid-June,” the companies said in a joint statement. “In total, they can potentially benefit 2,00,000 patients as each of the 1,00,000 packs that will be available in India offers treatment for two patients.”

1.36 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia appeals to the Centre to not to make vaccination drive a joke and approve vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna jabs immediately, reports PTI. Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Pfizer and Moderna have refused to sell the doses directly to the Delhi government.

1.33 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia says that all all 400 coronavirus vaccination sites in the national Capital for the 18-44 age group has been closed, reports PTI. He says that centres giving Covaxin jabs to citizens aged over 45 are also shut.

1.30 pm: The Supreme Court says the registration process of migrant workers is very slow and must be expedited so that benefit of various schemes can be extended to them amid the coronavirus pandemic, reports PTI. The court adds that it is not happy with the efforts of the Centre as well as the states on the matter of registration of unorganised workers.

12.33 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna have refused to sell doses directly to the Aam Aadmi Party government, reports ANI.

“They have said that they will deal with the Government of India alone,” says Kejriwal. “I appeal to the Centre to import vaccines and distribute to the states.”

11.30 am: The health minister says the B.1.617 coronavirus strain, that was first detected in India, has been found in 65% of samples sequenced, reports NDTV. He adds that this is one of the most common mutations detected so far.

11.22 am: Harsh Vardhan says states have 1,60,57,858 doses to continue their coronavirus vaccination drive, reports NDTV.

11.20 am: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says 16 states in the country currently have high positivity rate.

10.36 am: Uttarakhand Health Secretary Amit Negi says all hospitals in the state have been directed to report deaths of coronavirus patients on the same day, warning of action if the fail to do so, reports ANI.

10.33 am: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in Mumbai says walk-in vaccination for citizens will be implemented from Monday to Wednesday, reports PTI. During this period, citizens aged 60 years and above will get the first and the second dose of Covishield vaccine. Health and frontline workers as well as those above 45 years will get the second dose.

10.31 am: The Madhya Pradesh government has eased coronavirus-induced restrictions in various districts of the state due to decline in infections, reports News18. After consultation with district administrations, a crisis committee has eased rules in Jhabua, Alirajpur, Burhanpur, Bhind and Khandwa districts.

10.30 am: As many as seven patients who have recovered from the coronavirus disease have been diagnosed with the Aspergillus Flavus infection, or “white fungus”, in Ghaziabad, reports the Hindustan Times.

9.15 am: India toll due to the coronavirus disease has reached 3,03,720 after 4,454 people died in the last 24 hours. This is the highest ever rise in deaths since the pandemic broke out last year. India is the third country after the United States and Brazil to record more than 3 lakh deaths. The country also reports 2,22,315 new coronavirus cases, taking the toll to 2,67,52,447.

9.10 am: A police case has been filed against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and Congress leader Kamal Nath after he claimed that the “Indian variant” of the coronavirus is responsible for the second wave of the pandemic, reports the Hindustan Times.

“Nath violated the norms of WHO [World Health Organization] in which the organisation clearly said no variant of virus should be named after a country, person, organisation or bird’s name,” says the first information report.

9.09 am: The Punjab government says that United States pharmaceutical firm Moderna has refused to supply coronavirus vaccine directly to the state, citing its official policy that the company can only deal with the Centre, reports NDTV.

State Nodal Officer for Vaccination, Vikas Garg, says that the Amarinder Singh government is exploring possibilities of floating a global tender to purchase vaccines from all possible sources, including from Johnson & Johnson.

8.55 am: Here are the top updates from Sunday:

  • India reported 2,40,842 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 26,530,132 since the pandemic first broke out in January 2020. The toll climbed by 3,741 to 2,99,266. There are 28,05,399 active cases and 2,34,25,467 patients have recovered from the infection so far.
  • Aam Aadmi Party MLA Atishi on Sunday said there were no more doses of Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin left with the Delhi government after Monday’s inoculations. She said the administration in Delhi was not informed about the supply of the next installment from the central government.
  • The United Kingdom’s government health body Public Health England said that two doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has shown 60% efficacy against symptomatic infection caused due to the B.1.617.2 variant of the coronavirus that was first detected in India.
  • Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended the lockdown in the city till May 31. He, however, said that an “unlocking” process will start if the daily cases continue to drop further. The Haryana and Puducherry governments also extended lockdowns till May 31.
  • A meeting between the Centre and all states and Union Territories failed to arrive at a decision on when to hold the Class 12 board examinations. Consequently, the decision on holding various entrance examinations also could not be made.
  • The Rajasthan government made it mandatory for those coming from outside the state to submit a negative RT-PCR test report, conducted within the last 72 hours. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot also announced a three-tier lockdown in the state from May 24 to June 8.
  • Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 16.67 crore people and killed over 34.55 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.