Coronavirus live updates: 1,000 Covid testing labs in India, says ICMR

The states of Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh received the most number of returning labourers - now they are also witnessing the sharpest rise in new cases in the two weeks to June 8, according to internal government estimates seen by Bloomberg. In the rural districts of Rajasthan and Karnataka, the virus is also spreading rapidly, it showed. Infections have now spread to 98 of the country's 112 poorest rural districts, up from 34 on April 15, according to the report from NITI Aayog. Nearly 2,250 new cases were added in those districts.

The research by researchers at Chongqing Medical University, published in Nature Medicine on June 18, highlights the risks of using “immunity passports” and supports the prolonged use of social distancing. The research, which studied 37 symptomatic patients and 37 asymptomatic patients, found that of those who tested positive for the presence of the IgG antibody, one of the main types of antibodies, over 90% showed sharp declines in 2-3 months.

The Directorate General of Health Services of Delhi government released a revised standard operating procedure (SOP) for the management of Covid-19 patients on Monday, making it mandatory for all mild and asymptomatic positive cases detected through RT-PCR tests to go to Covid care centres till a team of the district surveillance officer (DSO) physically verifies that the person can be kept in home isolation.

US President Donald Trump believes that China is responsible for the spread of deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 4.56 lakh people globally and over 1.22 lakh in the US, his spokesperson has said."The president never regrets putting the onus back on China — pointing out that China is responsible for this and, in the process, standing up for US troops who are being blamed by China in a campaign of misinformation," White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters at a news conference on Monday.