Maintaining a continued improvement in the situation, India reported less than 60,000 daily Covid-19 cases for the first time in 81 days with the addition of 58,419 new infections recorded in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said today.

Cuba's Soberana 2 vaccine candidate has shown 62% efficacy with just two of its three doses, state-run biopharmaceutical corporation BioCubaFarma said on Saturday, citing preliminary data from late phase trials.

Turkey has received 5 million more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinovac , the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Saturday, as President Tayyip Erdogan voiced hope of a rebound in the tourism sector.

Brazil's death toll from COVID-19 is expected to pass 500,000 on Saturday as experts warn that the world's second-deadliest outbreak may worsen due to delayed vaccinations and the government's refusal to back social distancing measures.

India's indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin has had a bumpy ride since it was approved in January for emergency use in the country before clinical trials were complete.

To curb the spread of Covid-19, the Khulna District Committee on Coronavirus Prevention announced a lockdown in the district for seven days, starting from June 22.

The administering of the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine resumed today in 67 centres countrywide with around 11 lakh Sinopharm jabs in hand.

Ten people died at the Covid-19 unit of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) in 24 hours till this morning.

Eleven died while being treated at the Covid-19 unit of Khulna Medical College Hospital during 24 hours, till this morning.

The governments of South Asian countries, including Bangladesh, have failed to play their roles in controlling the spread of the coronavirus and come up with sustainable and effective recovery solutions to the pandemic induced crisis.

The Delta variant of COVID-19, first identified in India, is becoming the globally dominant variant of the disease, the World Health Organization's chief scientist said on Friday.

Israel will send at least 1 million soon-to-expire COVID-19 vaccine doses to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under a deal to share shots, after being urged to do more to ensure Palestinian access to vaccinations as it inoculated its own citizens at world-leading speed.

AstraZeneca said on Friday the European Union had lost a legal case against the pharmaceutical firm over the supply of COVID-19 vaccines, with a court in Brussels rejecting an EU request for more deliveries by the end of June.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the country needs to be prepared to meet the future challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic amidst reports that a third wave may strike by October.

Fifty-four people have died from Covid-19 in 24 hours till 8am today, during which the daily positivity rate spiked by more than three percent to 18.59 percent, according to a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Some 760,000 South Koreans who have received a first dose of AstraZeneca Plc's COVID-19 vaccine will be offered Pfizer Inc's vaccine as a second shot due to shipment delays by global vaccine sharing scheme COVAX, the government said.

International Labour Conference has adopted a resolution with a global call for ensuring timely and adequate Covid-19 vaccines for all people and personal protection equipment for all workers for revitalisation of world economy.

Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide passed a grim milestone of 4 million on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, as many countries struggle to procure enough vaccines to inoculate their populations.

Moscow is facing a new coronavirus variant that is more aggressive and infectious, and the situation in the city is rapidly deteriorating, its mayor said on Thursday.

Britain reported its biggest daily rise in new cases of COVID-19 since Feb. 19 on Thursday, according to government figures which showed 11,007 new infections, up from 9,055 the day before.