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

Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported just one new Covid-19 case, which took the tally in the Union Territory to 7,557, a health department official said on Sunday. The new patient has a travel history, he said.

New Zealand conceded its ambitious "Covid zero" elimination strategy may no longer be viable Sunday, as an outbreak of the virulent Delta variant continued to spread. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins reported a further 21 cases in a virus cluster that emerged in Auckland last week, ending a six-month run of no local cases and sparking a national lockdown.

As the second wave of Covid-19 declines, there are 15 districts in the state that have fewer than 100 active cases of Covid-19. Six of these 15 districts have active cases that are in single digits, while the tribaldominated Nandurbar district has absolutely no active case at all. Of the 55,000 active cases in the state, over 37,000 are concentrated in the five districts of Pune, Thane, Satara, Ahmednagar and Sangli. The city, with just over 3,000 cases, is in seventh spot in the state. “These 15 districts are smaller, with sparse population density and limited movement,” a state official said. The officer said that the challenge now was to keep the daily detection numbers and active cases low in these parts of the state.

Covid fatalities may not be declining as rapidly as the cases in the state, but five districts have not reported a single death due to the contagion in a month. Three of these districts, Dhule, Nandurbar and Jalgaon, are in North Maharashtra. The other two are Hingoli in Marathwada and Gadchiroli in Vidarbha.

New Zealand recorded 21 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, bringing infections associated with the current community outbreak to 72, health officials said. Of the 21 new cases, 20 are in Auckland, the largest city, and one is in the capital Wellington.

More than 1,75,500 people participated in demonstrations against the coronavirus health passes held across France on Saturday, country-based BFMTV channel reported citing the French Interior Ministry. This was the sixth Saturday in a row that protests against the new COVID-19 restrictions were organized in various cities in France, including Paris. (ANI)

India recorded a little over 31,000 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, a drop of more than 3,000 from the previous day's tally as Kerala recorded a dip in new infections because of lower testing in the midst of the Onam festival.