Sixty 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).

Eight Covid-19 patients, including a senior doctor, of a hospital in Delhi died due to oxygen shortage, a hospital official said today.

A forum of scientific advisers set up by the government warned Indian officials in early March of a new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus taking hold in the country, five scientists who are part of the forum told Reuters.

With 185 new cases detected in 24 hours till 10pm yesterday (Friday), number of Covid-19 cases has crossed the 50,000 mark -- 393 days into the detection of the first case -- in Chattogram.

Authorities have designated 16 establishments in Jashore city to quarantine India-returnees arriving through Benapole land port.

The Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, is planning to start vaccine production in other countries as it struggles to meet supply commitments, its chief executive officer told The Times.

Australian residents and citizens who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering Australia as of Monday and those who disobey will face fines and jail, government officials said.

At least 18 Covid-19 patients were killed as a fire ravaged a hospital in Bharuch in the western Indian state of Gujarat early today, police officials said.

The West Bengal government tonight imposed a partial lockdown in the state with immediate effect amid mounting cases of Covid-19.

Fifty-seven 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).

Several Indian states have run out of Covid-19 vaccines a day before a planned widening of a nationwide inoculation drive, authorities said on Friday, as new infections in the crisis-hit country surged to another daily record.

With new variants of Covid-19 spreading rapidly, the global Covid-19 caseload today crossed the grim milestone of 150 million.

Pfizer Inc's shipment of Covid-19 vaccine to Mexico this week includes doses made in its US plant, the first of what are expected to be ongoing exports of its shots from the United States, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

The first consignment of 423 oxygen cylinders as emergency Covid-19 aid from the United States reached New Delhi today as the inflow of foreign assistance gathered momentum to help India cope with the unprecedented second wave of coronavirus.

The Russian developer of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine said on Thursday it would sue the Brazilian health regulator Anvisa for defamation, prompting a stern rebuttal from the agency.

India has done its best to supply Covid-19 vaccines to its neighbours, said Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, at a webinar today.

In total, 510 Bangladeshis, including three who are Covid-19 positive, have returned home from India over three days till today.

88 deaths, 2,341 infected in 24 hours.

Total global spending on COVID-19 vaccines is projected to reach $157 billion by 2025, driven by mass vaccination programs underway and “booster shots” expected every two years, according to a report by US health data company IQVIA Holdings Inc released on Thursday.

The Booker Prize-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy claimed that the world is “witnessing a crime against humanity”, referring to the unfolding Covid-19 crisis in India. In her long-form The Guardian piece published on April 28, she claimed, “The system hasn’t collapsed. The government has failed. Perhaps ‘failed’ is an inaccurate word, because what we are witnessing is not criminal negligence, but an outright crime against humanity.”