COVID-19 wrap Aug 6: Centre releases 2nd tranche of COVID-19 package; fire at Ahmedabad COVID hospital kills 8

From Reddy's Laboratories Ltd saying that late-stage clinical trials of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine may begin in a few weeks to Bharat Biotech saying it plans to begin phase 3 of Covaxin in October, here are all the latest updates on a coronavirus vaccine and the progress of its many candidates.

With over 50,000 fresh cases daily, India's COVID-19 case tally is nearing the 20 lakh mark. There are currently 5,95,501 active cases of the infection in the country, even as 13,28,336 people have recovered, as per the health ministry's latest update.

The death toll due to coronavirus pandemic in India has already breached the 40,000-mark and continues to rise. However, in some positive news, the government said the case fatality rate has improved to 2.07 percent while India's COVID-19 recovery rate has gone up to 67.62 percent.

Globally, there are 1.86 crore confirmed cases of the infection and over 7 lakh people across the world have lost their lives due to the virus.

Here are the top developments of the day:

> The Centre on August 6 released Rs 890.32 crore as the second instalment of the COVID-19 financial assistance package to 22 states and Union Territories. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the Rs 15,000 crore package as part of the 'Whole of Government' approach, wherein the Centre is leading the COVID-19 response and management, and supporting the states and UTs through technical and financial resources.

> The Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said it expects headline inflation to remain elevated in the second quarter of FY21. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said food prices are expected to increase in the near term due to broken supply chains as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

> A fire at a private hospital in Ahmedabad earlier on August 6 left eight COVID-19 patients dead. The victims, five men and three women, were being treated in the ICU ward of the COVID-19 designated Shrey Hospital in Navrangpura area of the city.

> Government data revealed that state-wise Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in July dipped 11.1 percent month-on-month in most states. GST collections account for almost 60 percent of states' revenues. The nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to falling GST collections.

> Even as countries across the globe are still grappling with the rising number of COVID-19 infections and the economic fallout of the pandemic, another contagion is spreading fast in China, proliferating through a tick bite. The virus has already reportedly killed seven people in China, with at least 60 others infected.