11.26 am: The Punjab government is expected to get a total of 7.81 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the first fortnight of June, reports The Indian Express.

11.24 am: Amid a shortage of staff, hospitals in Karnataka struggle to use ventilators provided with funds from the PM CARES initiative, reports The Indian Express.

11.23 am: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, asking for free Covid-19 shots for the state’s 18 to 44 age group, reports PTI.

11.22 am: A special anti-Covid vaccination campaign will be held in Noida and Greater Noida for inoculating parents or guardians of children aged 12 years or below, officials told PTI on Monday.

11.20 am: The Uttar Pradesh government will launch a “Mission June” campaign, a massive vaccination drive that aims to inoculate more than one crore beneficiaries in the next 30 days, reports The Indian Express.

11.19 am: The Telangana government on Monday withdrew the permission to six more private hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients, reports The News Minute. The medical facilities have been accused of overcharging patients, violating a government order.

11.15 am: The Indian Council of Medical Research is planning to conduct a fourth countrywide serological survey to ascertain the prevalence of the virus, Sars-Cov-2, which causes Covid-19, reports the Hindustan Times.

11.14 am: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday ordered an investigation after a viral video showed three men burying the body of their Covid-positive father in a field in Sant Kabir Nagar district, an official told the Hindustan Times.

11.13 am: Over 10 million Indians lost their jobs amid the second wave of Covid-19 and nearly 97% of household incomes have dropped since the beginning of the outbreak in 2020, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy chief executive Mahesh Vyas said on Monday, reported PTI.

11.12 am: The Madras High Court on Monday requested a senior government official to visit Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur factory of Renault-Nissan on June 1 to inspect if Covid-19 norms are being followed at the facility, reported the Hindustan Times.

11.10 am: The Centre on Monday said that in some cases Covid-19 vaccination sessions had been cancelled due to a lack of vaccines, reported The New Indian Express.

11.07 am: The Bengaluru Police have arrested 14 persons, including a doctor, in the scam related to bed allocation by the civic body, reports the Hindustan Times. The inquiry has revealed that most of those arrested were operating on their own.

11.06 am: The Karnataka government has decided to buy coronavirus vaccines directly from companies, reports NDTV.

11.04 am: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Ashwath Narayan announces the launch of a vaccination programme from Monday in the state for students going to other countries, reports The News Minute.

11.03 am: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to prioritise Covid-19 vaccination for students pursuing education in foreign countries and employees planning to leave for work, reports The News Minute.

11.01 am: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday urged his Rajasthan counterpart to look into reports of alleged Covid-19 vaccine wastage in the state on priority, reports PTI.

11 am: Drug company Cipla has said such an assurance will help make this significant financial commitment of more than USD 1 billion (over ₹ 7,250 crore) advance to Moderna for its booster vaccine in India, sources privy to the development said.

10.58 am: Peru on Monday more than doubled its official Covid-19 toll, becoming the country with the highest mortality per capita anywhere in the world, reported AFP.

10.55 am: As many as 1,57,74,331 Covid-19 vaccines are still available with the states and Union Territories to be administered, says the Union health ministry.

10.54 am: India’s new count of infections is the lowest in 54 days and the daily Covid positivity rate has fallen to 6.62%, shows Union health ministry data.

10.51 am: The Delhi Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2021, also allows the holders of the necessary licences to serve alcohol in open spaces like terraces, courtyards of clubs, bars and restaurants, according to PTI.

10.50 am: The Delhi government has allowed home delivery of alcohol under the Delhi Excise (Amendment) Rules, 2021, reports PTI. This allows licence holders to sell liquor through an app or portal and deliver it to people’s homes.

9.20 am: India reports 1,27,510 new coronavirus cases and 2,795 deaths in a single day, according to data from the health ministry. Its total count of cases since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 has reached to 2,81,75,044, while the toll jumps to 3,31,895. There are 18,95,520 active cases in the country now, while 2,59,47,629 patients have recovered.

9.09 am: Two children in Karnataka have been affected by mucormycosis or “black fungus”, reports The News Minute. “They are suffering from Acute Juvenile Diabetes,” says an health official.

9.05 am: Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to provide free vaccines for beneficiaries of all age groups and to give freedom to define priorities for inoculation, reports ANI.

9 am: The health ministry on Monday claims that states and Union Territories have more than 1.75 crore vaccine doses to administer to beneficiaries, reports The Hindu. Over 2.73 lakh vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by the states and Union Territories within the next three days.

A quick look at the updates from Monday: