Covid update: India allows sanitiser, mask export; Russia vaccine deal

From the Government of India lifting the ban on export of many medical items, to an Indian pharmaceutical major striking a deal with Russia for the latter's vaccine - here are the top news updates on the Covid-19 pandemic. The government has ended curbs on export of sanitisers, 2/3 ply face masks and PPE (personal protection equipment) kits. However, export of diagnostic kits and N95/FFP2 masks is still subject to a monthly quota. Meanwhile, Dr Reddy's Laboratories announced an agreement with Russia over the Sputnik-V vaccine. Russia said that it will provide the company with 10 crore doses following approval from Indian regulators for which Dr Reddy's will conduct Phase 3 trials locally. The Sputnik-V was the first Covid vaccine to be approved, though after only 2 phases of trials. Internationally, one of the most promising vaccine candidates - developed by Oxford university and pharma AstraZeneca - has run into fresh hurdles in the United States of America, where the authorities have paused trials to see if there's any safety issue. Meanwhile, in Spain, some volunteers reportedly quit the Johnson & Johnson vaccine trial over reports regarding AstraZeneca. In India, among the newest cases are government functionaries like Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Karnataka Home minister Basavaraj Bommai, and politicians like Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta. Watch the full video for more updates regarding the spread of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus.