6.13 pm: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh allows restaurants, cinema halls and gymnasiums in the state to open up and operate at 50% capacity, reports NDTV. The state government has not allowed bars and clubs to open yet and the night curfew from 8 pm to 5 am will continue to remain in place.

6.10 pm: The Uttar Pradesh government relaxes the Covid-19 restrictions in the state, allowing restaurants and malls to open with 50% capacity, reports the Hindustan Times. The night curfew timing has been revised to 9 pm to 7 am from 7 pm to 7 am.

5.06 pm: Vaccination per million population in tribal districts is higher than the national average, says the health ministry. The vaccination per million population (10 lakh) in tribal districts is 1,73,875, which is higher than the national average of 1,68,951. The gender ratio for people vaccinated is also better in tribal districts, it adds.

5.05 pm: Over 1.05 crore Covid vaccine doses are available with the states and Union Territories, says the government.

4.58 pm: During the second wave, 11.62% Covid cases seen in below 20 years age group, says the government. It was 11.31% during the first wave.

4.47 pm: Paul says the pace of vaccination will see “new energy” from the coming week.

4.46 pm: Talking about Novavax, Paul says the initial results are promising. “What we’re learning from data available in public domain that this vaccine is very safe and highly effective,” he adds. “It’ll be produced in India. Clinical trials are being conducted and are in advanced stage of completion.”

4.45 pm: Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul says the virus transmission is very low right now. “We are dealing with a highly transmissible variant this year than we were in 2020, hence we exercise greater caution and strictly abide by Covid appropriate behaviour,” he adds.

4.42 pm: Agarwal urges residents to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.

4.41 pm: Giving a break-up of the infection trajectory among children, Agarwal says in the age group of 1-10 years, 3.28% of children contracted the infection in the first wave while 3.05% during the second wave. “8.03% got infected in 11-20 years of age group in first wave and 8.5% in the second wave.”

4.40 pm: Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary of the health ministry, says there has been an almost 85% decline in daily cases since the highest reported peak. “We are witnessing this situation after 75 days, thus indicating an overall decline in infection rate,” he adds.

3.43 pm: The Uttar Pradesh government has relaxed coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state, reports the Hindustan Times.

Restaurants and malls can open with 50% of their capacity by following the prescribed guidelines. Parks and street food kiosks can also function.

3.30 pm: At least 1 lakh coronavirus test reports were forged by a private agency during the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand, reports The Times of India.

An official tells the newspaper that a single phone number was used to register over 50 people. Meanwhile, one antigen test kit was shown to have tested 700 samples.

“Addresses and names were fictional,” the official adds. “Almost 530 samples were taken from ‘House Number 5’ in Haridwar. Is it possible to have over 500 residents?”

The violation of Covid-19 protocols at the religious gathering had attracted attention from across the world. However, state authorities, including the chief minister, had tried to downplay the risks.

3.13 pm: Bharat Biotech says supply price of its Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, to the central government at Rs 150 per dose is not sustainable in the long run, reports PTI.

“Fundamental business reasons ranging from low procurement volumes, high distribution costs and retail margins among few others contribute to higher pricing of Covaxin,” says the manufacturer. “The supply price of Covaxin to the government of India at Rs 150 per dose, is a non-competitive price...Hence a higher price in private markets is required to offset part of the costs.”

3.10 pm: The Jharkhand government allows all government and private offices to open till 4 pm with 50% staff capacity, reports ANI. All shops, including fruits and grocery, will remain closed from Saturday 4 pm till Monday 6 am.

1.19 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi area has recorded zero new Covid-19 cases, according to civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s update on Monday night.

1.06 pm: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announces extension of restrictions till June 22 with certain relaxations. All offices, government and private, can now remain open till 5 pm, shops can operate till 6 pm. A night curfew will be in place till 5 am.

10.59 am: Less than 0.5% people have signed up for vaccination through Common Service Centres in rural areas so far, The Indian Express reports.

10.56 am: Jharkhand records 151 new coronavirus cases and one death on Tuesday, PTI reports. Its tally of infections rises to 3,43,609, while toll is 5,085.

9.53 am: Two major hospitals in Afghanistan have been unable to take in new patients because of a lack of beds amid the third wave of the pandemic, Reuters reports.

9.48 am: The World Health Organization warns that Covid-19 is moving quicker than vaccines, adding that the G7’s promise to share doses with poorer countries is not enough, AFP reports.

“I welcome the announcement that G7 countries will donate 870 million (new) vaccine doses, primarily through Covax,” World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says. “This is a big help, but we need more, and we need them faster. Right now, the virus is moving faster than the global distribution of vaccines.”

The WHO chief adds: “More than 10 thousand people are dying every day... these communities need vaccines, and they need them now, not next year.”

9.47 am: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announces Rs 1 lakh relief each to families below the poverty line who lost an earning member to Covid-19, PTI reports.

9.44 am: Nearly 73% of the elderly population in India suffered increased abuse during the lockdown in the second wave of Covid-19, a report from the Agewell Foundation shows, according to PTI.

9.42 am: The Covid-19 positivity rate in Jammu falls t0 1%, PTI reports. The city’s recovery rate is 96%.

9.30 am: The total number of Covid-19 tests done in India crosses 38.13 crore.

9.16 am: India records 60,471 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking its overall tally to 2,95,70,881 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll rises by 2,726 to to 3,77,031. This is the lowest single-day rise in cases since March 31, NDTV reported. The number of active cases stay below 10 lakh for the second day in a row. India now has 9,13,378 active cases.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

9.13 am: Pfizer and AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing hospitalisation due to infection caused by the Delta variant, the Financial Times reports, citing Public Health England.

The Pfizer vaccine found 96% effective in preventing hospitalisation, while AstraZeneca was 92%. effective.

9.09 am: A group of students from Assam urge the Supreme Court to cancel state board exams for Class 10 and 12 in view of the coronavirus crisis, the Hindustan Times reports.

8.45 am: The Archaeological Society of India says the Taj Mahal and other centrally protected monuments and sites will reopen on Wednesday. They were closed on April 15 due to the second wave of coronavirus pandemic.

8.40 am: The United Kingdom has delayed its plans to ease lockdown restrictions by a month, Reuters reports.

“I think it is sensible to wait just a little longer,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, adding that the Delta variant was more infectious and deadlier. “As things stand, and on the evidence that I can see right now. I’m confident that we will not need more than four weeks.”

According to the UK’s plan in February, most social restrictions, including those on restaurants, pubs and nightclubs were expected to be lifted on June 21. They will now be removed on July 19.

8.30 am: Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 17.62 crore people and killed more than 38.08 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the updates from Monday: