India saw a single-day rise of 28,591 coronavirus infections, taking the overall tally to 3,32,36,921, while active cases declined by nearly 6,600 in a day to stand at 3,84,921, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on September 12.

The death toll climbed to 4,42,655 with 338 daily fatalities reported September 12, according to the data released at 8 a.m.

The active cases have declined to 3,84,921, constituting 1.16% of the total infections, while the COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.51%, the health ministry said. The number of active cases declined by 6,595 in a span of 24 hours, it said.

You can track coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates at the national and State levels here. A list of State Helpline numbers is available as well.

Here are the latest developments:

12 Nagpur cops test positive after return from Pune training session

Twelve Nagpur police personnel have tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday and Sunday after returning from a training session at the Maharashtra Intelligence Academy in Pune, an official said.

A total of 33 personnel from Nagpur police had gone for the training, which took place between August 30 and September 9, said Sandip Pakhale, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) on Sunday.

"Two policemen, on returning from Pune, showed mild symptoms and their swab samples returned positive late Saturday night, after which we decided to test all 33 as a precautionary measure. Another 10 tested positive, taking the total to 12," he said. - PTI

Chinese city with coronavirus outbreak stops buses, trains

A city in southern China that is trying to contain a coronavirus outbreak told the public Sunday not to leave, suspended bus and train service and closed cinemas, bars and other facilities.

Anyone who needs to leave Putian, a city of 2.9 million people in Fujian province south of Shanghai, for an essential trip must have proof of a negative coronavirus test within the past 48 hours, the city government announced. - AP

Japan passes 50% vaccination rate, may ease limits in November

Japan's government says more than 50% of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Japan's vaccine rollouts began in mid-February, months behind many wealthy countries due to its lengthy clinical testing requirement and approval process. Inoculations for elderly patients, which started in April, were also slowed by supply shortages of imported vaccines, but the pace picked up in late May and has since achieved 1 million doses per day.

Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is in charge of COVID-19 measures, told NHK public television's weekly talk show Sunday that about 60% of the population is expected to be fully vaccinated by the end of September, on par with current levels in Europe. - AP

20% of fully vaccinated people in Odisha fail to develop antibodies: ILS

The Bhubaneswar-based Institute of Life Science (ILS) said about 20% of the fully vaccinated people in Odisha have failed to develop antibodies against SARS-CoV2 and they may require booster doses.

Though Odisha has so far inoculated over 61.32 lakh people with both doses of COVID-19 vaccine, including more than 10 lakh people in Bhubaneswar, about 20% of them have failed to develop antibodies against SARS-CoV2 and they may require booster doses, said ILS director Dr. Ajay Parida.

"Though the antibody level is 30,000 to 40,000 in some Covid infected people, it is below 50 in a significant number of vaccinated individuals. If the antibody level is 60 to 100, then we can say the person is antibody positive," the ILS director said.

He said the efficacies of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines are only 70 to 80%. - PTI

Vaccination is the medicine to boost economy: FM

Holding that 73 crore people of the country's population have received their vaccination, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said vaccination was the only medicine to boost the economy as it allows people to conduct businesses regularly or farmers to carry out farming activity.

"Vaccination programme has been going on smoothly in the country and so far 73 crore people have already received jabs free of charge. Today, through vaccination programme, people were able to conduct business, traders were able to procure products to run businesses, (thereby) boosting economy, or farmers were able to do farming...So, vaccination is the only medicine (to combat the virus, to boost economy)...," she said.

Ms. Sitharaman made those comments while delivering her address at the centenary celebrations of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank here on Sunday. - PTI

No new COVID-19 death reported in Delhi for the fourth consecutive day

Delhi reported no one new COVID-19 death in 24 hours for the fourth consecutive day and the total number of deaths stood at 25,083, as per a bulletin released by the Delhi government on September 11.

Also, 35 new cases were reported, taking the total cases to 14,38,211. A total of 74,540 tests were done in a day and that test positivity rate (TPR) was 0.05%.

Of the total cases, 14,12,716 people have recovered and there are only 412 active cases.

No COVID deaths for 4th day

Total recoveries inching closer to 20 lakh in A.P.

The State reported 17 more deaths due to COVID and 1,145 infections in the 24 hours ending Saturday morning. It was the highest single-day toll in the past 11 days.

The cumulative tally and toll increased to 20,28,795 and 13,987 respectively. The number of active cases has again crossed the fifteen thousand mark and reached 15,157.

The total recoveries stand at 19,99,651 including the 1,090 recoveries in the past day. The recovery rate stands at 98.56%. In the past day, 49,581 tests were conducted with a positivity rate of 2.31% while the overall positivity rate of the 2.72 crore samples tested was 7.44%. - Reuters

Total recoveries inching closer to 20 lakh in A.P.

New Zealand buys further 500,000 COVID-19 vaccines as cluster grows

New Zealand has purchased 500,000 doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine from Denmark, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on September 12, as the country struggles with a cluster of infections in its largest city.

New Zealand, which reported 20 locally acquired COVID-19 cases in Auckland on September 12, said the vaccines will arrive within days. The latest outbreak now totals 599 infections since the first case was detected in late August.

"There is now more than enough vaccine in the country to vaccinate at the world leading rates we were hitting earlier in the month, and I strongly encourage every New Zealander not yet vaccinated to do so as soon as possible," Ms. Ardern said in an e-mailed statement. - Reuters

Anti COVID vaccine protesters clash with police in Greece

Greek police fired tear gas and water canon on September 11 to break up a demonstration of thousands of people protesting against mandatory coronavirus vaccinations.

Authorities said protesters hurled flares at police in Greece's second-biggest city of Thessaloniki, who blocked them from trying to reach the area where Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was due to deliver his annual economic address. The annual speech typically attracts crowds of demonstrators, and police estimated more than 15,000 people, including labour unions, took part in the demonstrations on issues ranging from economic policy to COVID-19 vaccines.

Protests against COVID-19 vaccinations began in July after the government announced the mandatory inoculation of health care workers and nursing home staff. Authorities have suggested vaccines could become obligatory for other groups too, such as teachers. - Reuters

Australia's third most populous state avoids COVID-19 lockdown

Queensland, Australia's third most populous State, said on September 12 it does not need to order a lockdown after it detected zero COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours. The State on September 11 reported five cases of COVID-19, with state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk warning that a lockdown could be needed to stop the spread of the virus.

However, the state said testing had yet to detect any further cases, avoiding the need such a measure.

"We're not out of the woods yet, but this is the best result we could have hoped for at this point in the outbreak," Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles told reporters in Brisbane. - Reuters