Extra focus on hygeine, mandatory thermal screening, compulsory face masks — these are some of the instructions the Union Health Ministry has issued as a part of reopening India's economy, even as coronavirus infections continue to spike in the country.

As per latest update, India stands seventh among the nations worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic after the U.S., Brazil, Russia, the UK, Spain and Italy.

Here is a list of State Helpline numbers. You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here.

Here are the latest update:

India's COVID-19 tally reaches 2.26 lakh with record spike of 9,851 cases

India saw a record single-day jump of 9,851 coronavirus cases and 273 deaths on Friday, pushing the nationwide infection tally to 2,26,770 and the death toll to 6,348, according to the Union health ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1,10,960, while 1,09,461 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

“Thus, around 48.27% patients have recovered so far,” a senior health ministry official said. - PTI

Authors pull controversial Lancet study flagging hydroxychloroquine risks

The Lancet on Thursday retracted a study that raised safety fears over the use of a drug favoured by President Donald Trump to treat COVID-19, after the paper's authors said they could no longer vouch for its underlying data.

It was soon followed by the withdrawal of another coronavirus paper in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that was not linked to hydroxychloroquine but relied upon the same healthcare company's patient database.

The unfolding research scandal threatens to undermine confidence in two of the world's top medical journals in the midst of a pandemic.

Brazil’s official coronavirus death toll passes Italy

Brazil's total COVID-19 death toll blew past that of Italy on Thursday, as the Health Ministry reported 1,437 deaths in the last 24 hours and 30,925 additional coronavirus cases.

Novavax gets U.S. defense funding for its COVID-19 vaccine

Novavax Inc said on Thursday the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will give the late-stage biotech company up to $60 million to fund the manufacturing of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S.-based company said the deal includes the delivery of 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine - NVX-CoV2373 - to the DoD this year.

The announcement of Novavax's vaccine trial came last month as drugmakers pause clinical trials on drugs for other ailments to focus on COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus that has resulted in more than 386,379 deaths globally.