3.32 pm: The Union health ministry clarifies that its letter sent to the states and Union Territories regarding the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network inventory and temperature data of coronavirus vaccine was intended to prevent the use of such sensitive data for unauthorised commercial purposes.

“The crucial information related to specific vaccine usage trends for multiple vaccines used in Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), and temperature-related data in respect to each such vaccine, can be used to manipulate the market as well as associated research with respect to various vaccines and cold chain equipment,” the ministry says.

1.36 pm: Two lionesses at Tamil Nadu’s Arinagar Anna Zoological Park test positive for Covid-19, PTI reports.

1.27 pm: Kerala Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas says the government is considering making popular tourist destinations “100% vaccinated zones” by July 15 by inoculating everyone in the tourism sector, PTI reports.

The government has begun vaccinating tourism industry staffers after including them in the priority list for inoculation.

1.24 pm: The Indian Council of Medical Research has approved the self-use Rapid Antigen Test kit developed by Gujarat-based Meril Diagnostics, The Hindu reports. The kit will cost Rs 250.

1.15 pm: The delta variant of Covid-19 can infect people even after they have being fully-vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin, show separate studies by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi and National Centre for Disease Control, NDTV reports. The studies are yet to be peer-reviewed.

1.10 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reviews the construction of a 57-tonne oxygen storage tank in Siraspur in the North West part of the Capital, ANI reports.

12.38 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says every person walking into a vaccination centre should get the jab.

“Online registration is not enough for the vaccine,” Gandhi tweets. “...Those who do not have access to internet also have the right to life.”

12 pm: Germany now has 15,000 pop-up coronavirus testing centers across the country, reports The New York Times. These centers are funded by the government as experts have pushed for more testing to reduce new infections.

11.52 am: The health ministry has issued detailed guidelines for management of the coronavirus disease in children amid concerns that a possible third wave of the pandemic could affect those below 18 years.

11.50 am: Professor Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College epidemiologist whose modelling helped to persuade British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to order the first lockdown, says the Delta variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, is believed to be 60% more transmissible than the Alpha strain, reports Reuters.

“It’s well within possibility that we could see another third wave at least comparable in terms of hospitalisations,” he adds.

11.45 am: Meanwhile, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar says the city is not fudging data of coronavirus deaths, reports ANI.

“There is no river in Mumbai where bodies of people succumbing to corona are being dumped,” she says, taking a swipe at Uttar Pradesh, Bihar. “All Covid deaths in Mumbai are recorded at three places, so the data can’t be hidden.”

11.42 am: Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey tells NDTV that the state government will revise Covid figures if residents prove their family members died due to the disease.

“Our real intention is to help not to hide anything,” says Pandey. “We are not ruling out some names that are still missing.”

9.55 am: Tamil Nadu leads with 17,321 new infections, followed by Kerala (16,204), Maharashtra (10,989) and Karnataka (10,959).

9.35 am: India reports 94,052 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday morning. The country also reports its highest single day toll – 6,148 – after Bihar revised its fatality count upwards of almost 4,000 deaths.

9.20 am: Two coronavirus patients in Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital have been discharged within 12 hours after successful use of monoclonal antibody therapy, reports ANI.

“Monoclonal antibody could prove to be a game-changer in times to come if used at an appropriate time,” says Dr Pooja Khosla, a senior consultant of the Department of Medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. “It can avoid hospitalisation in high-risk groups and progression to severe disease. It can help escaping or reducing the usage of steroids...”

9.15 am: The finance ministry, in its monthly economic report for May, has suggested operation of 24 hour-vaccination sites, reports The Hindu. It has also made a strong pitch to vaccinate 70 crore people with at least the first dose by September for herd immunity and economic growth.

9.10 am: United States President Joe Biden is buying 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to distribute among other countries, reports AFP. A formal announcement will be made by the president at the G-7 meeting in Britain this week.

9.09 am: The Centre has written to the states and Union Territories, asking them not to share the data of the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network, or eVIN system, reports PTI. The health ministry has prohibited states from disclosing vaccine stocks and the temperature of vaccine storage at public forums, saying that it is a “sensitive information”.

The eVIN system is implemented in India with the help of the United Nations Development Programme.

“In this regard, please be advised that data and analytics generated by eVIN for inventory and temperature is owned by the Ministry of Health and not to be shared with any other organisation, partner agency, media agency, online and offline public forums without the consent of the ministry,” says a letter.

A look at the developments from Wednesday: