Coronavirus live updates: Night curfew relaxed in West Bengal during Durga puja and Lakshmi puja

Durga Puja celebrations are likely to be low key in Siliguri this year due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The West Bengal government has allotted Rs 50,000 to every Puja organiser, which has come as a huge relief for the organisers.

A national network of scientists and people’s science movements has expressed concern over WHO not granting emergency use for ICMR-Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Read full story

China's factory activity unexpectedly shrank in September due to wider curbs on electricity use and elevated input prices, while services returned to expansion as Covid-19 outbreaks receded, offering some relief to the world's second-biggest economy.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday issued an order for re-opening of all schools in Mumbai for classes 8 to12 from October 4 with all Covid-19 protocols. BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal said that for now, the Civic body is reopening the schools for classes 8 to 12 from October 4 and for the rest, the decision will be taken in November.

Thane has reported 315 new cases of coronavirus, taking the infection count in the Maharashtra district to 5,59,110, an official said on Thursday. Besides these new cases added on Wednesday, the virus claimed the lives of three more people, which pushed the death toll in the district to 11,406, he said

Covid-19 cases in Australia's Victoria state surged to record levels on Thursday despite Melbourne, the state capital, being stuck in a hard lockdown for nearly two months as officials race to vaccinate the population before easing curbs. A total of 1,438 new infections were reported, the majority in Melbourne, eclipsing the previous daily high of 950 on Wednesday. Five new deaths were recorded in the state.

The state plans to build 60-70 field hospitals across districts to cater to Covid patients round the year, with signs emerging globally that it is becoming endemic. These 50 to 100-bed facilities are part of a larger plan to create parallel infrastructure so that future Covid waves don’t disrupt non-Covid work at permanent hospitals.

At least one long-term Covid-19 symptom was found in 37% of patients three to six months after they were infected by the virus, a large study from Oxford University and the National Institute for Health Research showed. The most common symptoms included breathing problems, fatigue, pain and anxiety, the university said, after investigating symptoms in over 270,000 people