6.55 pm: Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha says the country will fully reopen to visitors within 120 days after more than a year of coronavirus-induced travel restrictions, reports Reuters.

5.15 pm: The Central Board of Secondary Education will submit a report on the Class 12 assessment system tomorrow to the Supreme Court, reports NDTV.

4.48 pm: The Nagaland government extends the state-wide lockdown till June 30, reports PTI. The restrictions were scheduled to end on June 18.

“The coronavirus situation in the state is improving but we are still not out of the woods,” says government co-spokesperson and advisor Mmhonlumo Kikon. “The positivity rate is declining but it needs to go down below five percent. Also, we need to inoculate more than 50% of the population.”

4.44 pm: The Odisha government has decided to continue partial lockdown in the state till 5 am on July 1, reports ANI.

Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra says that shops for essential goods will be allowed to open from 6 am to 5 pm in 17 districts of the southern and western part of the state where the positivity rate is 5% or less. For the 13 coastal districts and others with a higher positivity rate, the shops for essential goods will open from 6 am to 1 pm, he adds.

The border checkposts along Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have also been removed after a decline in coronavirus cases in the two neighbouring states, reports The Hindu.

4.40 pm: Delhi records 212 new coronavirus cases, taking its overall tally since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 to 14,31,710. The positivity rate has dropped to 0.27%, according to data shared by the health department. The toll jumps by 25 to 24,876.

1.54 pm: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan says the decision to increase the gap between two doses of the Covishield has been taken “ in a transparent manner based on scientific data”.

His comment comes a day after three scientists of an advisory group on Covid-19 vaccination in the country have said that they did not back the Centre’s decision last month to double the interval. However, soon after their statements came to light on Tuesday evening, Covid Working Group Chairman NK Arora said the decision was taken on “scientific basis” and without any “dissenting voice”.

1.44 pm: Ocugen Inc, Bharat Biotech’s partner in the United States and Canada for its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, says it has chosen Washington-based Jubilant HollisterStier as its manufacturing partner for the vaccine, reports PTI.

1.40 pm: Union health ministry responds to social media posts suggesting Covaxin shots contain newborn calf’s serum.

“Newborn Calf Serum is used only for preparation of vero cells...The vero cells are completely destroyed in process of viral growth,” says the ministry. “The grown virus is also killed and purified. This is then used to make final vaccine and in the final vaccine formulation no calf serum is used.”

1.37 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says his government has decided to train 5,000 people for jobs of health assistant, reports ANI. The decision has been taken in view of the shortage of medical and paramedical staff experienced during first and second wave of the pandemic, and to avoid a similar situation in case a third wave strikes.

“They will be given basic training in nursing, paramedics, life-saving, first aid and home care,” says Kejriwal. “Online applications can be filled from June 17 and training will begin from June 28.”

11.46 am: Brazil is planning to buy 60 million or 6 crore doses of the single-shot Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by China’s CanSino Biologics, Reuters reports.

11.42 am: Several states in India have begun preparations for a third wave of Covid-19, with a focus on protecting children from the infection.

11.37 am: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directs deputy commissioners to maintain the pace of vaccination and not lower their guard, even though fresh cases in the state are gradually declining, PTI reports.

11.29 am: Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directs health officials to start vaccinating teachers, non-teaching staff members and students in all schools and colleges from June 21, IANS reports.

11.25 am: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi responds to Indian scientists saying they didn’t back the doubling of gap between two vaccine doses. “India needs quick and complete vaccination, not the BJP’s usual brand of lies and rhyming slogans to cover up the vaccine shortage caused by the government’s inaction,” he says.

11.21 am: As Covid-19 cases reduce, the Uttarakhand government directs the Char Dham Yatra board to begin preparations for the pilgrimage by July 1, ANI reports.

“Steps regarding yatra will be taken as per Nainital High Court’s directions,” Uttarakhand Minister Subodh Uniyal says.

9.36 am: Covid-19 was present in the United States from at least December 2019, weeks before the country confirmed its first case on January 21, shows an antibody study by the National Institutes of Health, AFP reports.

9.31 am: A fifth of asymptomatic coronavirus patients develop long Covid, a study by FAIR Health, a non profit organisation in New York, shows, according to AFP. Long Covid is a term used to describe effects of the infection that weeks or months after the initial illness.

9.27 am: Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 toll may be nine times higher than the official count, shows a study by Arappor Iyakkam, a Chennai-based non-governmental organisation, according to The News Minute.

9.24 am: United States’ Covid-19 toll crosses 6 lakh, according to Johns Hopkins University.

9.15 am: The Centre acknowledges the AY.1 or B.1.617.2.1 variant of Covid-19, which is closely related to the Delta variant, but says it is not yet a “Variant of Concern”, Business Today reports.

“We don’t know much about this yet and are studying it including the prevalence in India,” NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul says.

9.08 am: India records 62,224 new coronavirus cases, taking its overall tally to 2,96,33,105 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll rises by 2,542 to to 3,79,573.

The number of active cases falls below 9 lakh. India now has 8,65,432 active cases.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

9 am: Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 17.65 crore people and killed more than 38.19 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the updates from Tuesday: