Coronavirus live updates: 56 lakh vaccine doses given today, India's total coverage now 58.82cr

North Korea has developed its own Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) equipment to conduct coronavirus tests, state media said on Monday, as the country steps up efforts to head off more contagious new strains of the virus. The isolated country has not confirmed any Covid-19 cases, but has sealed borders, restricted travel and imposed strict prevention measures, seeing the pandemic as a matter of national survival. (Reuters)

Japan's factory activity growth slowed in August, while that of the services sector shrank at the fastest pace since May last year, highlighting the increasingly heavy toll a recent wave of Covid-19 infections is taking on the economy. Manufacturers mostly withstood the impact of the coronavirus resurgence, due largely to the highly contagious Delta variant that is forcing governments in Japan and elsewhere in Asia to put in place lockdowns or other curbs. (Reuters)

Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic drug commonly used for livestock, should not be taken to treat or prevent Covid-19, the Food and Drug Administration said on Saturday. The warning came a day after the Mississippi state department of health issued a similar statement in response to reports that an increasing number of people in Mississippi were using the drug to prevent a Covid infection. Some studies last year spurred use of the drug against Covid-19, especially in Latin America, and Fox News has promoted some of those studies' findings on air.

Bus services to Tamil Nadu were stopped on April 27 this year due to Covid restrictions.