A health worker at a Covid-19 testing centre in New Delhi on Friday.

India reported nearly 39,000 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to over 10.7 lakh on Sunday. At least 543 deaths were reported, taking the casualties to 26,816. Follow coronavirus pandemic LIVE updates

While 3,73,379 are active patients, as many as 6.7 lakh patients have already recovered. Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, crossed the three-lakh mark on Saturday with Mumbai reporting over 1 lakh coronavirus cases so far.

Graffiti to spread awareness against coronavirus, at the Student Centre of Panjab University in Chandigarh.

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry said that India’s case fatality rate (CFR) is “progressively falling” and is currently at 2.49 per cent, which is one of the lowest in the world. “The CFR is progressively falling and currently, it is 2.49 per cent. India has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world,” the ministry said.

On day 19 of unlock 2.0, here are some interesting stories:

Online brokerages see growth in new investors

Online brokerage houses such as Zerodha, Upstox and 5paisa.com have seen a spurt in the addition of investors and trading activities during the March-June period amid coronavirus pandemic.

Health team taking samples of residents of Gandhi Colony in Panchkula on Saturday.

Apart from these, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas also witnessed a growth in onboarding of new clients and trading activities. Interestingly, a substantial number of these new investors are from smaller towns and the average age of such investors is between 25 years and 30 years, according to brokerages.

Corona Kavach health insurance policy evokes good response: Insurers

Amid spurt in COVID-19 cases in the country, the Corona Kavach health insurance policy has evoked a good response within days of its launch by almost all insurers. Corona Kavach, which was launched on July 10 and is being offered by both general and health insurers, is a standard health insurance policy created to meet the treatment requirements for coronavirus.

A health worker prepares before entering an Isolation center for Covid-19 at CWG in New Delhi on Friday.

The term of the policy ranges from three-and-a-half months to nine-and-a-half months, with maximum insured amount at Rs 5 lakh. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has given a green signal to all general and health insurers to launch Corona Kavach policy to cover medical expenses of COVID-19 patients.

Demand for Kadaknath chicken surges amid pandemic in Madhya Pradesh

The demand for Kadaknath, a protein-rich breed of chicken from tribal-dominated Jhabua district of Madhya Pradesh, has shot up significantly amid the COVID-19 outbreak, an official said on Sunday. The supply of this chicken had been affected due to the lockdown, but ever since the restrictions were eased, its demand has gone up.

A family wears mask to prevent Covid-19 infection in New Delhi on Friday.

Talking to PTI, Chief of Jhabua’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Dr I S Tomar, said that the supply of Kadaknath chicken was affected as transportation facilities were not available during the nationwide coronavirus-induced lockdown. But after the lockdown was eased, the demand has increased, he said. KVK works for preserving and promoting this black- coloured variety of chicken through its hatchery.

Video of pigs roaming inside govt hospital in Karnataka causes outrage

A video of a herd of pigs roaming freely inside a COVID-19 hospital in Kalaburagi district has triggered outrage on social media, with people questioning the ‘negligence’ of authorities, PTI reported.

The video shows pigs roaming freely in the corridors of the hospital, as people and hospital staff go about their regular activities.

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu has in a tweet said the incident was three days old. He said as soon as he was informed of it, he instructed authorities to take necessary action.

“The owners of the pigs were called, and the pigs around the hospital were caught and shifted,” he said.

Seven Indian pharma players race to develop COVID-19 vaccine

At least seven Indian pharma companies are working to develop a vaccine against coronavirus. Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.

These vaccines will be for India and middle- and low-income countries across the world (GAVI countries). Vaccines typically provide the immune system with harmless copies of an antigen: a portion of the surface of a bacterium or virus that the immune system recognises as foreign.