Here’s a look at the top updates on Monday:

  1. There is no indication that the third wave of Covid-19 will affect children severely, All India Institute of Medical Sciences Director Dr Randeep Guleria said during the Centre’s press briefing . Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Union health ministry, told reporters that India was witnessing a steady decline in coronavirus cases since the last 17 days.
  2. India reported 2,22,315 new coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infections to 2,67,52,447 since the pandemic first broke out in January 2020. The toll climbed by 4,454 to 3,03,720. With this, India is now the third country in the world, after the United States and Brazil, to log over 3 lakh deaths.
  3. Kerala recorded 196 deaths – its highest one-day toll since the outbreak of the pandemic. Its total number of deaths rose to 7,554. As many as 17,821 new cases pushed the state’s tally of infections to 23,35,762. Meanwhile, Delhi registered 1,550 new coronavirus cases and 207 deaths. Its tally of infections went up to 14,18,418, while the toll reached 23,409. The Capital’s positivity rate stood at 2.52%.
  4. The Supreme Court directed states to provide dry ration to migrant workers who do not have ration cards and also set up community kitchens for them, Bar and Bench reported.
  5. The Centre allowed on-site registrations and appointments for Covid-19 vaccination for beneficiaries between the ages of 18 and 44 on the government’s CoWin platform. Initially, the facility will only be available for government vaccination centres.
  6. American pharmaceutical corporation Pfizer said it will supply vaccines only to central governments and supranational organisations. The company’s statement came after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that Pfizer and Moderna have refused to sell the doses directly to the Delhi government. Pfizer also refused to supply the vaccines directly to Punjab, but praised the state’s “extraordinary efforts” in fighting the pandemic, NDTV reported.
  7. The Kerala High Court suggested that the Centre use the excess funds that it got from the Reserve Bank of India to provide free coronavirus vaccines, especially to the poor.
  8. Bihar extended its coronavirus-induced lockdown till June 1. It was first imposed on May 5, and has since been extended several times.
  9. The Madhya Pradesh Police lodged a first information report against state Congress chief Kamal Nath for spreading panic by referring to a coronavirus variant, B.1.617, as the “Indian variant”.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 16.69 crore people and killed over 34.58 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.