Covid LIVE: 11,958 cases in Karnataka; Kerala lockdown extended till Jun 16

Coronavirus live updates: Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat have announced the partial lifting of restrictions from today. Stay tuned for corona-related news

4:46 PM

China dismisses Trump's $10 trillion compensation demand for Covid-19 spread

China on Monday rejected former US president Donald Trump's demand to pay USD 10 trillion as reparations to America and the world for the death and destruction caused by the COVID-19, saying the accountability lies with politicians who ignored people's lives and health. Speaking at a Republican Party convention in North Carolina on Saturday, Trump, who termed the COVID-19 as "China virus" and "Wuhan virus", said China should pay hefty compensation.

 

"China should pay USD 10 trillion to America, and the world, for the death and destruction they have caused!" said Trump.

 

When he was in power, Trump had called for a probe alleging that the virus had leaked from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) and even pulled out of the World Health Organisation (WHO) accusing the UN health agency of supporting Beijing.

4:21 PM

Larsen and Toubro to donate six oxygen plants to Tamil Nadu govt hospitals

Engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) has committed six oxygen plants to various government hospitals in Tamil Nadu, the company said on Monday.

 

The first such oxygen unit was supplied to a hospital in Tiruvallur district, a release from L and T said.

 

Larsen and Toubro has supplied an oxygen plant of 500 LPM (litres per minute) capacity to the government hospital in Ponneri, Tiruvallur, and the company was in the process of supplying and commissioning five more plants to other places, the release said.

4:16 PM

Tamil Nadu allots Rs 25 crore for procurement of Amphotericin B drug, other medicines to treat Black Fungus

4:04 PM

Mumbai unlocks: Restaurants, gyms, salons reopen after two months

Restaurants, gyms, salons, public grounds and other commercial establishments reopened after nearly two months on Monday in Mumbai, which falls in level-3 of the Maharashtra government's five-level 'unlock plan'.

 

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appealed to citizens not to let their guard down and follow all precautions to check the spread of COVID-19.

 

Buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), the city civic body's transport wing, were allowed to ferry passengers with 100 per cent seating capacity, though local trains were restricted for those working in medical and essential services. READ MORE...

3:49 PM

Shops reopen in Maharashtra as 5-level unlock comes into effect

3:38 PM

Puducherry government cancels Class 12 board exams

Puducherry government cancels Class 12 board exams

3:37 PM

SC gives Centre more time to apprise about scheme for orphaned kids

The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that it needed some more time to apprise the court of the modalities on the recently launched 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme for kids orphaned by COVID-19.

 

The National Commission of Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said West Bengal and Delhi have not been cooperating and have not provided latest data on the number of children who have lost their parents due to coronavirus.

 

A bench of Justices L N Rao and Aniruddha Bose was informed by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, that they are in consultation with states and ministries to work out the modalities of the 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme. READ MORE...

3:20 PM

Covid LIVE: West Bengal board exams for Class 10 and 12 cancelled

3:17 PM

Gujarat starts reopening as Covid second wave begins receding

After more than a month of Covid-19 restrictions, Gujarat on Monday began unlocking as the effects of the second wave of Covid-19 seemed to be fading away. Government offices, schools and courts reopened, expecting normalcy to return in the state.

 

The Gujarat government has decided to allow full functioning of all its offices including the state secretariat in Gandhinagar with one hundred percent capacity as the number of coronavirus infections continued to decrease. The state on Sunday recorded 848 Covid positive cases while 12 citizens succumbed. The total number of active cases has also come down below 20,000. After the second wave hit the state badly, the government had decided to function with only 50% staff capacity.

3:13 PM

Markets re-open following curfew relaxation in Tamil Nadu

2:44 PM

Covid deaths cross 3,000-mark in Odisha, 6,118 new cases recorded

Odisha's COVID-19 toll on Monday surpassed 3,000 with 41 fresh deaths, while 6,118 new cases in the state pushed the tally to 8,19,214, a health department official said. The total number of fatalities rose to 3,035.

 

Of the 6,118 new cases, 3,453 were registered in quarantine centres and the rest detected during contact tracing, the official said.

 

Cuttack reported the maximum number of new cases at 640, followed by Jajpur at 563, Khurda at 495 and Angul at 416. This is the first time since the second wave of the pandemic struck that Khurda district, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a part, reported less than 500 daily cases.

2:39 PM

UP, Maharashtra may bear maximum cost of Covid-19 vaccination: Analysts

As Covid-19 vaccination picks up in the 18-44 age group states are scrambling to procure doses, with analysts predicting that the likes of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra would bear the maximum costs on account of their demographics.

 

Maharashtra managed to procure only 2.5 million vaccine doses in May for this population segment — which is estimated to be 55 million in the state. READ MORE...

2:29 PM

Several provinces in Pak reopen schools after drop in Covid-19 cases

Majority of the provinces in Pakistan, including Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Monday reopened its educational institutions after the country reported a drop in the number of positive cases of coronavirus.

 

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), the main body monitoring the country's battle against COVID-19, had initially allowed reopening of educational institutions from May 24 in all districts with less than 5 per cent positivity rate but delayed it for the rest of the country until June 7.

 

Educational institutions reopened in Pakistan from Monday as the country reported low cases recently, an official statement said.

2:14 PM

Delhi markets re-open on odd-even basis from today

2:13 PM

Covid LIVE: Andhra govt extends curfew till June 20, but eases restrictions

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday further extended the COVID curfew across the state till June 20. The curfew duration, however, has been curtailed by two hours a day and will be in force from 2 PM to 6 AM after June 10.

 

The COVID curfew, first imposed on May 5, was supposed to end on June 10 but, at a high-level review meeting on the pandemic situation, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy decided to extend it for ten more days.

 

A CMO release said all government offices would function from 8 AM to 2 PM daily till June 20.