U.S.-biotech firm Moderna Inc is likely to price its coronavirus vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, according to a Financial Times report. Moderna’s proposed price would apply to the United States and other high-income countries.

In India, Serum Institute of India chairman Cyrus Poonawalla has said that SII, which has partnered with vaccine developers Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is aiming to sell the vaccine for under ₹1,000 per dose in India.

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 updates:

9.30 am | Madhya Pradesh

MP minister Tulsi Silawat, his wife test COVID-19 positive

Madhya Pradesh Water Resources Minister Tulsi Silawat and his wife have tested coronavirus positive.

The information was shared by the minister himself on his Twitter handle on Tuesday. In the tweet, he appealed to those who had come in his contact to get themselves tested.

State Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had last week tested COVID-19 positive.– PTI

9 am | Mumbai

57% of Mumbai slum population has developed antibodies: Study

A sero-surveillance study done in Mumbai has revealed that 57% of slum population and 16 per cent of non-slum residents in three civic wards had developed antibodies, indicating many people would already be affected by COVID-19 than the official tally suggests.

The sero-surveillance started on June 3 and 6,936 samples out of an estimated 8,870 were collected from slum and non-slum population of three civic wards — R-North, M-West and F-North — in the first half of July.

8.30 am | Vaccine

Moderna aims to price coronavirus vaccine at $50-$60 per course

Moderna Inc is planning to price its coronavirus vaccine at $50 to $60 per course, at least $11 more than another vaccine from Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the Financial Times reported, citing unnamed sources.

Moderna’s proposed price for a two-dose course sold to governments compares with $39 for two doses under a deal that Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech struck with the U.S. government.

Moderna’s proposed price would apply to the United States and other high-income countries, according to the report. Pfizer, Moderna and Merck & Co have said they plan to sell their vaccines at a profit, while some drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson have announced plans to price their vaccines on a not-for-profit basis. – Reuters

8 am | World

Global air passenger traffic will not return to pre-COVID levels until 2024: IATA

Global air passenger traffic will not return to pre-COVID levels until 2024, a year later than previously projected, as international travel curbs remain in place in most countries due to the coronavirus pandemic, IATA said Tuesday.

Moreover, the overall domestic passenger traffic was 86.5% less in June 2020 than what was observed a year ago, the global airlines body added.

The IATA, which has around 290 airlines as its members, said the international passenger traffic in June was 96.8% less than the figures of June 2019. – PTI

 7 am | West Bengal

Bi-weekly lockdown in West Bengal extended till August 31

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced extension of two-day complete lockdown every week in the State till August 31. She said the lockdown restrictions would also continue.

For seven days in August, there will be a complete lockdown, which, the CM said, was essential to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19.

She said there would be a complete lockdown on August 16, 23 and 30. The State would also observe lockdown on August 5, 8, 17 and 24.