Coronavirus wrap July 3: Tamil Nadu records over 1 lakh cases; NEET, JEE exams postponed to September

With each passing day, India's COVID-19 case tally continues to soar with over 6.25 cases of the infection recorded across the country till date. 18,213 people have lost their lives to the infection across India, which is the fourth most affected in the world.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat have reported the highest number of cases in India.

Globally, over 1.07 crore cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded, with the death toll at over 5 lakh.

Here are the top developments of the day:

# The number of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu has breached the 1-lakh mark, the state health department has said. After Maharashtra, it is the second state to have reported over lakh cases of the infection.

# The United States reported more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases on July 2, the largest daily increase any country has ever reported. A surge in coronavirus cases across the country over the past week has put President Donald Trump's handling of the crisis under the scanner.

# Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd has reportedly received a nod from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for human clinical trials for its indigenously developed potential novel coronavirus vaccine.

# An ICMR spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of a letter by ICMR Head that said the vaccine trials for Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin have been fast-tracked and that it could be launched latest by August 15.

# Maharashtra is inching towards the 2-lakh mark as its coronavirus case count stands at 1,92,990 with the addition of 6,364 new patients, a fresh single-day high, the state health department said.

# Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has further extended the suspension of international flights to and from India until July 31.

# The European Commission said it had given conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe COVID-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region's first therapy to be authorised to treat the virus.

# Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced that he has tested positive for the coronavirus disease and quarantined himself. Taking to Twitter, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader said that this afternoon, he felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined himself at home.