Coronavirus live updates: Union minister Nitin Gadkari tests positive

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has allowed Serum Institute of India (SII) to restart its phase two and three clinical trials for Covid-19 vaccine after the pharma major submitted the recommendations of the Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB), UK and DSMB India and requested permission to restart enrollment in the subject clinical trial of the vaccine being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Tuesday the House will remain in session until lawmakers deliver another round of COVID-19 relief, a move that came as Democrats from swing districts signaled discontent with a standoff that could force them to face voters without delivering more aid.

The Rs 50-lakh insurance cover to frontline health workers fighting Covid-19 has been extended for six months and till date, 61 claims have been processed and payments made, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday. "The 'Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting Covid-19' was announced on March 30 for 90 days. The scheme has now been extended for another 180 days ie six months," the health ministry said in a statement.

ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargava said a randomised controlled trial, including 464 patients in 39 hospitals in 25 districts across 14 states and UTs, has shown that plasma therapy does not reduce mortality or prevent progression from moderate to severe disease. He said that plasma therapy has been used for more than 100 years now in some form or the other for various virus infections.

"On September 15, Ambassador Vinay M Kwatra handed over 2,000 vials of Remdesivir to Foreign Affairs Minister of Nepal Pradeep Kumar Gyawali on behalf of the Government of India," Indian Embassy said in a release.

"The assembly hall has been sanitised thoroughly. All the members and officers who came into contact with MLAs Vishesh Ravi and Parmila Tokas have been advised to take adequate precautionary measures," a senior official of the Delhi assembly secretariat said.