Coronavirus LIVE Updates: MP Health Minister Prabhuram Choudhary Tests Positive for Covid-19

Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Prabhuram Choudhary tested positive for coronavirus. "My COVID-19 test report came out positive. I request those who had come in my contact to undergo a coronavirus test. Those in close contact should quarantine themselves," he tweeted.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said today that a standard operating procedure for film and TV programme shooting was being released. Apart from those acting, everyone involved in production is supposed to wear masks and follow social distancing, he said, adding that the SOP had been developed in consultation with the Health Ministry. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi today supported students who were against holding exams amid Covid-19. "Circumstances in the country regarding coronavirus have not returned to normal. In such a situation, if the students and their parents taking the NEET and JEE examinations have expressed some concerns, then the Government of India and the test-taking institutions should consider it properly," she said.

India's COVID-19 case tally crosses 30 lakh mark with 69,239 fresh cases and 912 deaths in the last 24 hours. The coronavirus case tally in the country rises to 30,44,941 including 7,07,668 active cases, 22,80,567 cured/discharged/migrated and 56,706 deaths, stated the update by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Here are the LIVE Updates:

• 1,450 New Covid-19 Cases in Delhi: Latest health bulletin Delhi reported 1,450 new coronavirus cases and 16 deaths today, taking the total number of cases to 1,61,466 while the death to rose to 4,300. The tally includes 1,45,388 recovered cases and 11,778 active cases.

• E-passes are not required to travel to and from Puducherry, announced the Union Territory administration today. Meanwhile, cases have risen in Rajasthan and Odisha. Rajasthan reported 697 new COVID-19 cases and 6 deaths today, and Odisha saw 2,993 new positive cases, and 10 more deaths.

• Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Tests Positive: Jharkhand Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh says he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease.

• Manipur Locals Face Hardships: Locals of Champu Khangpok, Manipur, a village near Loktak lake, say it has become difficult to earn a livelihood due to Covid-19."Most of us are fishermen and due to restrictions we aren't able to sell fish in neighbouring markets," says a villager.

• Tunisia May Come Out With Vaccine by Early 2021: Hechmi Louzir, director general of the Pasteur Institute of Tunis (IPT), said that the vaccine against the coronavirus is expected to be fully ready in Tunisia in early 2021. "This DNA-based vaccine would strengthen the immune system," Louzir told Shems FM Radio. He added that the effectiveness of the vaccine "will also depend on compliance with preventive measures against the virus", Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

• Fifth of Vaccine Trial Group Blacks, Latinos: Nearly a fifth of 11,000 people enrolled so far in a 30,000-volunteer U.S. trial testing a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech are Black or Latino, groups among the hardest hit by the coronavirus virus pandemic, a top Pfizer executive said.

"Between Latinx and Black or African American populations, we're running at about 19 percent or so," Dr. Bill Gruber, Pfizer’s senior vice president of vaccine clinical research and development, told Reuters in an interview. "We're trying to push even higher than that."

• WHO Asks Kids Above 12 to Wear Masks: The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a guidance saying children over the age of 12 should wear masks, in line with recommended practice for adults in their country or area. It admits little is known about how children transmit the virus but cites evidence that teenagers can infect others in the same way as adults. Meanwhile, the death toll due to Covid-19 has risen to 8 lakh around the world, according to the John Hopkins University Tracker, and Worldometers.