Reiterating the importance of full protection through two COVID-19 vaccine doses, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan appealed to all citizens to get the second dose which boosts the immunity against COVID-19 manifold. He further said 53,25,000 doses will be supplied to the states soon. He added that 180 districts haven’t seen a single COVID-19 case in the last seven days.

As the Trinamool Congress won the West Bengal Assembly elections, Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday said “arrogance, might, money power and using Jai Shri Ram for politics” lost the polls in the state. Sibal also hailed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is all set to continue her third term in West Bengal.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has tested Covid positive, a top official said on Monday. According to Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, the Chief Minister has mild symptoms. “He has been advised isolation and is staying at his farmhouse. A team of doctors is monitoring his health,” the Chief Secretary said.

With elections over on April 6, it is an anxious wait for Assam politicians till May 2. The anxiety is compounded by different astrologers making predictions about the political future based on the positions of stars. BJP state president Ranjeet Kumar Dass who contested from Pathacharkuchi seat declared that he will make his outcome of polls public on April 28.

Breaking another record in the daily spike in Covid-19 cases, Telangana reported 3,840 new cases and nine deaths during the last 24 hours. This is the highest daily spike since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The number of infections climbed from 3,307 on Thursday as Greater Hyderabad and several districts reported a huge surge.

Actress Sameera Reddy opened up about her struggles with body image issues and wrote on Instagram, “Confidence doesn’t come overnight. It’s hard work to accept, love and believe in yourself every day with so many standards telling us otherwise.” She added, “I faced some resistance [at] the beginning with followers questioning…why I would share my flaws [on social media]?”

Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa tested positive for coronavirus for the second time after he was hospitalised in Bengaluru on Friday due to persistent fever. Chief Minister’s Office said that Yediyurappa will be shifted to Manipal hospital from MS Ramaiah Memorial hospital where he was admitted today. He had also held an emergency meeting over COVID-19 at his residence earlier today.

After a day’s lull, Telangana’s daily Covid-19 tally has yet again crossed the 3,000-mark. The Covid status bulletin issued on Tuesday said 3,052 new cases were recorded in the state during the last 24 hours. A total of 1,13,007 samples were tested during this period. In contrast, the state had reported 2,251 cases on Monday from a test size of 79,027 samples.

Telangana registered nearly 3,000 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest single-day spike this year, pushing the tally to over 3.24 lakh, while the toll rose to 1,752 with six more fatalities. The state has 17,791 active cases and over 1.11 lakh samples were tested on Friday. Cumulatively, over 1.08 crore samples have been tested. The case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 per cent, while it was 1.3 per cent at the national level.

Telangana’s daily Covid-19 count reached near 1500 mark as the cases continue to surge in several parts of the state. During the last 24 hours, the state reported 1,498 new cases, highest in over five months. This has pushed the state’s cumulative tally to 3,14,735. Six more people succumbed to the virus during the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,729.

In the continuing spike in Covid-19 cases, Telangana reported 887 new cases during the last 24 hours, health officials said on Thursday. This is the highest single-day jump in cases this year. The state had reported 684 cases the previous day. Greater Hyderabad, which was the worst hit in the earlier phase last year, is again witnessing the surge. The state’s capital’s daily count crossed 200.

Andhra Pradesh is estimated to have suffered a minimum loss of ₹21,500 crore because of the COVID-19 pandemic so far, according to a statement released by the YSRCP government. The pandemic has led to an over-reliance on debt, it said. The state government also declared that its total debt as on March 31, 2021, was ₹3,48,998.11 crore.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that the government is ready to discuss bringing petrol and diesel under GST in the next meeting. “States also tax fuel, not just Centre. When Centre taxes it’s part of devolvable amount,” she added. Centre collected ₹2.94 lakh crore from excise duty on the two fuels during the April 2020-January 2021 period.

Andhra Pradesh recorded 492 new Covid infections on Tuesday, while its active case tally reached 2,616. East Godavari district reported the highest number of cases at 168, followed by Krishna (63), Chittoor (56), Guntur (47), Visakhapatnam (46), Ananthapur (29), Nellore (22), Kurnool (20), Prakasam (12), Srikakulam (10), Kadapa (5) and Vizianagaram (2). Meanwhile, two more persons succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 7,193.

Former US President Donald Trump has urged his supporters to get COVID-19 vaccination, saying “it’s safe” and “it’s something that works”. “I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly. But you know again, we’ve our freedoms…and I agree with that also,” Trump added.