11.12 am: The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Centre issues new guidelines to stop the transmission of the coronavirus.

Apart from physical distancing and the use of masks, the advisory highlights that ventilation can decrease the risk of transmission from one infected person to the other.

“Ventilation is a community defense that protects all of us at home or at work,” the advisory says. “Introducing outdoor air in offices, homes and larger public spaces is advised. Measures to improve ventilation in these spaces must be taken up on urgent priority in urban and rural areas alike, recommendations for hutments, homes, offices and large centralised buildings are given.

The scientific adviser adds that saliva and nasal discharged in the form of droplets and aerosols arr the primary mode of virus transmissions. “People should continue wearing a mask, wear double masks or a N95 mask,” it adds.

11.01 am: American civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urge United States President Joe Biden to sent 6 crore vaccine doses to India, ANI reports.

10.55 am: India tested more than 20.55 lakh samples for the coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest daily number so far.

10.49 am: NITI Aayog Vice-Chairperson Rajiv Kumar says the second wave of the coronavirus took India by surprise but the government responded to the situation well, News18 reports.

“The government has taken extraordinary steps to ramp up the production of oxygen and transportation of supplies,” Kumar claims. “Due to the hard work of a lot of people, we were able to contain the peak.”

Kumar also defends the government’s decision to continue with the Central Vista project in the middle of India’s devastating coronavirus crisis. He claims that the amount spent on the project is very little compared to the investments made in the health sector.

10.46 am: Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Jagannath Pahadia dies due to Covid-19, PTI reports. He was 89.

10.43 am: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with districts magistrates from Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, ANI reports.

9.20 am: India reports 2,76,110 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, taking the total count of infections to 2,57,72,440 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The country’s toll rises to 2,87,122 as it records 3,874 deaths in the last day.

India’s count of active cases stood at 31,29,878 while the number of recoveries reached 2,23,55,440.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

9.16 am: Singapore asks Twitter and Facebook to issue a correction related to a false statement about a new variant of the coronavirus originating in the city-state, Reuters reports.

9.15 am: Hospitals in Delhi say at least 185 coronavirus patients have contracted the black fungus infection, the Hindustan Times reports.

9.12 am: Tamil Nadu will begin vaccinating those in the 18-44 age group from Thursday, The News Minute reports.

9.07 am: Here are the top updates from Wednesday: