India Sees Record 1-Day Surge In Covid Cases, Deaths; Tally Past 45 Lakh

Here are top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India:

1. India may have had 6.4 million coronavirus cases by May, the first national sero-survey conducted by top medical body ICMR has indicated. The survey, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, suggests that 0.73 per cent adults in the country were exposed to Covid-19. The survey, carried out from May 11 to June 4, tested blood samples from 28,000 people across 21 states.
2. India is the second worst-hit nation by the pandemic, which has affected over 2.8 crore people worldwide. The recovery rate stood at 77.76 per cent this morning, while the fatality rate stood at 1.6 per cent.
3. The positivity rate - an indicator of the prevalence of the disease - was reported to be 8.2 per cent this morning, as compared to yesterday's 8.4 per cent.
4. About 5.4 crore samples have been tested so far in the country with a population of about 130 crore. Over 11.6 lakh samples have been tested since yesterday; the highest number of samples - 11,72,179 - were tested on September, the government data shows.
5. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh are the worst-hit states in the country.
6. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged people not to take coronavirus lightly and follow the rule of wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing till scientists develop a vaccine. "I have certain expectations from you. That is to follow the rule of wearing a mask and Do Gaj ki Doori (a distance of two yards)," PM Modi said.
7. The Serum Institute of India, which is manufacturing the coronavirus vaccine Covishield being developed by the Oxford University along with pharma major AstraZeneca, said on Thursday it would stop Phase 3 trials that were to begin in India next week. AstraZeneca stopped vaccine trials across four nations as a precautionary measure after a volunteer in the UK showed some potentially adverse symptoms.
8. AstraZeneca's pause of an experimental vaccine for the coronavirus after the illness of a participant is a "wake-up call" but should not discourage researchers, the World Health Organization's (WHO) chief scientist said on Thursday. "This is a wake-up call to recognise that there are ups and downs in clinical development and that we have to be prepared," Soumya Swaminathan told a virtual briefing from Geneva, news agency Reuters reported.
9. Delhi on Thursday recorded a new spike of 4,308 fresh infections, taking its tally past 2.05 lakh.
10. Worldwide, the United States has recorded the highest number of cases- 63.96 lakh followed by India (45.62 lakh), Brazil (42.38 lakh), Russia (10.42 lakh) and Peru (7.92 lakh)