India Reports 62,480 New Covid Infections, Slightly Fewer Than Yesterday; Active Cases Under 8 Lakh After 73 Days

India's daily test positivity rate - positive cases identified for every 100 tests - continues to decline. It stood at 3.24 per cent - below 5 per cent for the eleventh straight day.

Maharashtra leads the states with the highest number of infections. It is followed by Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

26.89 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

At present, there are 20 states and union territories where the Covid active caseload is less than 5,000 and a drastic reduction is being noted in almost all states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a customised crash course programme for COVID-19 frontline workers today through video conferencing, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said. The programme aims to skill and upskill over one lakh "Covid warriors" across the country, the PM's Office said.

The Serum Institute of India, which is preparing to produce Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine in the country under the name Covovax, plans to start trials of the vaccine on children next month, sources in the company told NDTV on Thursday.

Biological E's made-in-India vaccine is expected to have 90 per cent effectiveness against Covid and will likely be a gamechanger in the fight against the pandemic, says a top doctor on a government advisory panel. NK Arora, chairperson of the Centre's Covid Working Group, has said that the vaccine is entering Phase 3 trials and could be available by October.

The Uttarakhand government on Thursday lodged a case against a company and two private labs for fudging coronavirus test reports during the Haridwar Kumbh Mela in April.

A commentary on the website of the medical journal The Lancet authored by 21 people, including Biocon's Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and top surgeon Dr Devi Shetty, has recommended eight actions to prepare for a possible resurgence of COVID-19 cases in India.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has said its Covid vaccine Sputnik V will soon offer a booster shot or the second dose of the vaccine, which has been adjusted to work against the Delta variant of coronavirus, to other vaccine manufacturers. In April, Sputnik received emergency use authorisation in India, making it the third vaccine to be made available in the country.