LIVE: Chhattisgarh registers 1,423 new Covid-19 cases, 20 more deaths

As many as 1,423 people tested positive for the Covid-19 disease in Chhattisgarh on Monday, taking the state's caseload to 341,516, a health official told news agency PTI. Twenty deaths and 19 discharges were reported during the same period and the death toll and total recoveries have climbed to 4,096 and 317,239 respectively.

Brazil's foreign minister minister Ernesto Araujo on Monday tendered his resignation after being pressured from lawmakers' over the government's failed strategy to obtain vaccine doses and curb the spread of the Covid disease pandemic.

Punjab on Monday added 2,914 fresh Covid disease cases and 59 more deaths, taking the caseload and death toll to 234,602 and 6,749 since the start of the pandemic last year, according to the state health department's bulletin.

Maharashtra on Monday witnessed a sharp fall in its daily coronavirus disease tally as 31,643 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department's bulletin. The Capital Mumbai, also saw a reduction in its daily tally with 5, 890 new cases.

Pakistani President Arif Alvi announced on Monday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).

Ethiopia on Monday said it would receive 300,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses from China's state-backed China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) on Tuesday. The Sinopharm doses are the first shots Ethiopia has secured outside the global Covax vaccine-sharing initiative, Health Minister Lia Tadesse told Reuters in a text message. Ethiopia is struggling to administer shots and tame infections that have spiked.

Delhi reported1904 new Covid-19 cases, 1411 recoveries and 6 deaths in the last 24 hours on Monday. With this, the total cases stood at 659,619, the total recoveries stood at 640,575 and the active cases in the national capital were 8,032. The death toll stood at 11,012.

England entered the second phase of its lockdown easing on Monday thanks to a successful vaccination drive, but the government is urging vigilance as another wave of coronavirus sweeps Europe. Read more

Russia has agreed a deal for more than 60 million doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to be produced in China from May, the jab's developer said on Monday. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has financed the development of the jab, said it and Shenzhen Yuanxing Gene-tech Co. "have agreed to cooperate on production of over 60 million doses" of Sputnik in China.

Chancellor Angela Merkel threatened to assert federal authority over measures to stem the Covid-19 pandemic, as the increasingly embattled German leader attempts to reverse the latest surge in infections threatening Europe’s biggest economy.

The unexpected turn of events highlights Merkel’s struggle to maintain control over pandemic strategy in the face of intransigence from the country’s powerful state leaders -- who in some cases have opted not to enforce restrictions agreed with her administration.

Euro zone government bond yields steadied in early Monday trading while the German debt took a breather after notching up its best weekly performance in 3-1/2 months as rising Covid-19 cases sent investors scurrying back to safe-haven assets.

Core euro zone bond yields have fallen in recent weeks as a resurgence in cases of Covid-19 and new lockdowns in Germany, France and elsewhere, rattle investor confidence in the region's economic recovery.

An international expert mission to Wuhan has concluded that it was very likely that Covid first passed to humans from a bat through an intermediary animal, while all but ruling out a lab incident.

The experts said that the intermediary host hypothesis was deemed "likely to very likely", while the theory that the virus escaped from a laboratory was seen as "extremely unlikely", according to the final version of the long-awaited report, of which AFP obtained a copy Monday before the official release.

There has been no progress on talks to seal a deal with Germany's BioNTech SE for its Covid-19 vaccine though talks are continuing, Taiwanese Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said on Monday.

Taiwan complained last month that the firm had pulled out of a deal to sell it 5 million doses at the last minute, possibly due to Chinese pressure. BioNTech responded by saying it did plan on providing the vaccine.

Puducherry added 125 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours taking the overall tally in the union territory to 41,226, a top Health department official said on Monday.

A 67-year old male patient succumbed to the virus at the government general hospital in Mahe pushing the toll to 681, Director of Department of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release.

The Covid-19 tally of Andaman and Nicobar Islands rose to 5,046 on Monday as two more persons tested positive for the infection, a health official said.

One more person has been cured of the disease, he said.

The Union territory now has eight active cases, while 4,976 people have recovered from the disease and 62 patients have succumbed to the infection to date, the official said.

A new pharmaceutical plant in Abu Dhabi will start making a Covid-19 vaccine from Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm later this year under a joint venture between Sinopharm and Abu Dhabi-based technology company Group 42 (G42).

The vaccine will be called Hayat-Vax when manufactured in the United Arab Emirates, but is the same BiBP inactivated vaccine that has been administered in the UAE since it was approved by authorities in Decemeber.

New Zealand reported 11 new border-related Covid-19 cases in managed isolation and no new community cases on Monday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement.

Of these new cases, one arrived from Italy via Singapore, and 10 arrived in New Zealand on the same flight from India via the United Arab Emirates, which arrived on March 27. Additional testing including Whole Genome Sequencing will be conducted to indicate whether any of the cases are related.

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases, Holi celebrations begin in a low-key manner on Sunday evening as people across the country performed 'Holika Dahan', a ritual that symbolises the victory of good over evil.

As the festival marks the arrival of the spring harvest season, 'Holika Dahan', also called 'choti Holi', was performed in different parts of the country including Delhi's Aram Bagh, the Canning lane, Khan Market area, and Atul Grover road.