Assam recorded its highest single-day spike of 613 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, with the state’s tally crossing the 8,000-mark and the death count rising to 12, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Assam reached 8,407 and Guwahati city, which falls under Kamrup (Metro) district and where a complete lockdown has been imposed for 14 days since June 28 midnight, has reported 1,767 cases so far.

More than 75 per cent of the total coronavirus cases in Delhi were reported in June, when the curbs were eased during Unlock1, according to the Delhi government’s health department data. According to the data, 66,526 fresh coronavirus cases were reported from June 1 to June 30.

Tamil Nadu, which has the third-highest number of coronavirus cases in the country, released guidelines for the opening of religious places today – nearly a month after the central government allowed it. Temples in the state are mostly expected to open today, the day the second phase of unlock rolls across the country.

There will be a complete lockdown on five Sundays in Karnataka, starting from July 5 to August 2, the state government’s “Unlock 2” guidelines said on Tuesday. However, essential activities and marriages already fixed on these days will be allowed, a government order said. However, the number of guests should not exceed 50 in wedding and related gatherings.

West Bengal, where coronavirus is surging, has decided to keep out people from outside the state especially places where the infection is rampant. The state government has written to the centre, asking that incoming flights from eight cities be stopped for two weeks, starting July 6.

The Railways will expand its suburban services in Mumbai from today and run 350 trains each in the Central and Western Railway Zones, Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday. The trains will, however, only carry essential services personnel identified by the Maharashtra government.

The pandemic has killed at least 506,818 people worldwide since it surfaced in China late last year, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday based on official sources. More than 10.3 million people have been infected in 196 countries and territories. The US is the hardest-hit country with 126,512 deaths.

More than 40 per cent of people diagnosed with COVID-19 in one Italian town showed no signs of being ill, according to research published in the journal Nature, indicating asymptomatic carriers may be significant spreaders of the virus.

Researchers in China have discovered a new type of swine flu that is capable of triggering a pandemic, according to a study in the US science journal PNAS. Named G4, it is genetically descended from the H1N1 strain that caused a pandemic in 2009.