Coronavirus in India: Maharashtra reports 9,844 Covid cases, Delhi 109

Bengal local train services unlikely to resume after Covid curbs end on June 30

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday hinted that it is unlikely that local trains will start operating even if the ongoing restrictions are relaxed a bit after June 30, as that might spread the Covid-19 infection. People blocked railway tracks in several stations in the state for around three hours on Thursday demanding that they be allowed to board staff special stations.

Punjab got fewer vaccine doses in comparison to BJP-ruled states: Balbir Singh Sidhu

Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Thursday accused the Centre of supplying fewer number of Covid-19 vaccine doses to the state in comparison to those ruled by the BJP. The minister claimed that the insufficient supply of vaccines has slowed down the pace of the vaccination drive in the state, adding that Punjab has the capacity to inoculate three lakh people per day.

Covid cases and vaccine tracker

Chile detects first case of Delta Covid-19 variant, reports Reuters

Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris said on Thursday that the first case of the more contagious Delta variant of Covid-19 had been detected in the South American country and warned that it could become dominant in the months ahead. The Andean nation has been battling in recent months against a second wave of infections despite one of the world's most advanced vaccination programs against the virus, underscoring how inoculations are not a silver bullet against the pandemic.

Maharashtra's Covid-19 case tally tops 60 lakh; 197 die, 9,371 recover

With the addition of 9,844 new Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra on Thursday, the state's cumulative infection count crossed the grim milestone of 60 lakh, while 197 patients succumbed to the infection, the health department said. The state's total caseload now stands at 60,07,431, said the health department in a statement.

Delta variant puts Africa at risk of third wave, reports AP

The director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says at least 20 countries across the continent of 1.3 billion people are in the grip of a "very devastating'' third wave of Covid-19 infections and the Delta variant first identified in India "may have played a very significant role.''

Gujarat in 24 hours vaccinated 3.41 lakh persons for the first dose and 1.02 lakh for the second. In all, 1.87 crore are administered first and 51.3 lakh second dose of Covid vaccine

Maharashtra's Covid-19 trend

Maharashtra reports 9,844 new Covid cases in last 24 hours

Over 54.07 lakh vaccine doses administered today: Union health ministry

India's cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage crosses 30.72 crore: Govt

Distribution of vaccine is done in a transparent manner based on population of a state, caseload, state’s utilisation efficiency and wastage factors: Govt

Mamata now writes to PM to get Covaxin authenticated by WHO, reports IANS

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that people are suffering for the Central governments decision to introduce Covaxin without proper authorisation from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Trinamool Congress supremo on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to get the indigenous Covid vaccine approved by the WHO to mitigate the problems being faced by those trying to go abroad.

Delhi records 109 new COVID-19 cases, eight more deaths; positivity rate 0.14 per cent

We are closely following the developments regarding efforts by Bharat Biotech to obtain Emergency Use Listing authorization from World Health Organisation: MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi

British PM suggests unrestricted travel for the fully vaccinated is coming soon

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hinted on Thursday that the UK was close to permitting unrestricted travel abroad for fully vaccinated people, in what would be a huge boost for airlines and holiday companies brought to their knees by Covid-19. Johnson said he was not ruling out going abroad for his summer holiday and said there would be an announcement later on Thursday.