Overwhelmed hospitals in India begged for oxygen supplies on Saturday as the country's coronavirus infections soared again overnight in a "tsunami" of disease, setting a new world record for cases for the third consecutive day.

Eighty-three people have died from Covid-19 during 24 hours (till 8am today), according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The Delhi High Court today said if any official at the central, state, or local administration was obstructing picking up or supply of oxygen, then it would "hang" that person.

Seram Institute of India (SII) has no right to halt vaccine supply after receiving payment in advance, Nazmul Hasan Papon, managing director of Beximco Pharmaceuticals, said today.

Prof Abul Khair Mohammad Shamsuzzaman, director of the National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre (NILMRC), passed away with Covid-19 at a Dhaka hospital this morning.

The Daily Star's former news editor, Yamin Bakht, passed away at United Hospital this morning. He was 62.

The government of the eastern Indian state of Odisha has sealed its land border with adjacent West Bengal where the reported presence of a triple mutant variant of Covid-19 has caused concerns.

The United States can immediately resume use of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, top health regulators said on Friday, ending a 10-day pause to investigate its link to extremely rare but potentially deadly blood clots.

The US and a handful of other big countries have blocked negotiations at the World Trade Organization involving a proposal spearheaded by India and South Africa that would temporarily waive the intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical companies to allow developing countries to produce vaccines.

The European Commission said it expects to seal the world's biggest vaccine supply deal within days, securing up to 1.8 billion doses of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine for the next few years as a debate rages over unfair access to shots for the world's poorest people.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was looking at what he could do to help India, where the coronavirus pandemic is entering a deadly new phase with which its health services are struggling to cope.

BRAC will launch antigen-based Covid-19 rapid tests tomorrow which will allow potential coronavirus patients to get results quicker than the RT-PCR tests which are used widely in the country.

Eighty-eight people have died from Covid-19 in 24 hours (till 8am today), according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Johnson & Johnson's single-shot Covid-19 vaccine is expected to be imported to India for "fill and finish" by June or July, financial daily Mint reported on Friday, citing ANI.

At least 13 Covid-19 patients died in a fire which broke out at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Palghar district of western Indian state of Maharashtra today, police said.

Bangladesh, in principle, has agreed to a Chinese proposal to set up an "Emergency Covid-19 Vaccine Storage Facility" to ensure quick supply of vaccines among the South Asian countries during emergency.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said they were cancelling their poll rallies in the state, which is in the midst of assembly elections, in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases.

It is not possible to increase the number of beds frequently in order to tackle the rush of Covid-19 patients, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said today.

India will try its best to supply Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh, Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami said today.

US drugmaker Pfizer on Wednesday (April 21) confirmed that suspect doses of its coronavirus vaccine that were seized in Mexico and Poland were indeed fake, with doses going for as much as US$1,000 (S$1,328) a shot, according to US media.