Here is a look at the latest updates on the outbreak of coronavirus from India and around the world —

UK virus death toll passes 20,000

Maharashtra reports 811 new Covid-19 cases and 22 deaths

WHO warns over virus immunity as global death toll nears 200,000

Free supply of PDS pulses under PMGAY to speed up in 1st week of May: Govt

UP govt starts bringing back workers; Over 2,000 return from Haryana

India records lowest daily growth rate in Covid-19 cases on Saturday

Ban on public gatherings in Uttar Pradesh till June 30

Standalone shops allowed to open in urban areas, MHA clarifies

India Post delivers ₹412cr cash in doorstep banking revolution

Centre gives clearance for neighbourhood shops to open

Doubling rate rises further in India, now 10 days

Ahmedabad may have 8 lakh Covid-19 cases by May end: Official

A month of lockdown: Covid growth falls from 22% to 8%

World unites to speed up Covid vaccine

Donald Trump touts the idea of ‘injecting’ disinfectant, scientists alarmed

NEW DELHI: With fresh 1,490 cases and 56 deaths, the total number of coronavirus cases in the country has climbed to 24,942, while the death toll has reached 779, according to the Union health ministry.The number of active Covid-19 cases stood at 18,953 while 5,210 people were cured and discharged, and one patient has migrated, the ministry said.The UK's official coronavirus death toll passed the milestone of 20,000 on Saturday, which the home secretary Priti Patel described as "a deeply tragic and moving moment".Health department figures showed a further 813 people had died in hospital after contracting COVID-19, pushing the official number of fatalities to 20,319.Maharashtra on Saturday reported 811 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of the affected people in the state to 7628, a health department statement said.Simultaneously, 22 people succumbed to the Covid-19 disease in the state, taking the death toll so far to 323, it said.With 119 patients discharged after recovery, their number rose to 1076 so far, it said.The World Health Organization warned on Saturday recovering from coronavirus may not protect people from reinfection as the death toll from the pandemic approached 200,000 around the globe.Governments across the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people and left half of humanity under some form of lockdown.The United Nations has joined world leaders in a push to speed up development of a vaccine, but effective treatments for Covid-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, are still far off.Distribution of free pulses to 20 crore PDS households across the country will speed up in the first week of May as the massive operation of transportation and milling of 5.88 lakh tonne of pulses for the same is underway, the government said on Saturday.Most of the beneficiaries will receive the quota for the first month within April or latest by the first week of May. Several states would be able to distribute pulses for all three months in the first go itself, it said.For the remaining states, the efforts are being made to complete the distribution for all three months within May itself, preferably within the third week of May, it added.The Uttar Pradesh government has started bringing back workers hailing from the state who were stranded in other parts of the country due to the lockdown and as many as 2,224 labourers have returned in the first phase, a senior official said on Saturday.Briefing reporters, Additional chief secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi said the first batch of workers was brought back in 82 buses from Haryana on Saturday, and 11,000 workers will return by Sunday.All the workers will be kept in a 14-day quarantine.The average doubling rate of COVID-19 cases in the country is 9.1 days as of now and from Friday 8 am to Saturday 8 am, India recorded a six-per cent growth in new cases, which is the lowest daily growth rate recorded since the country crossed 100 cases, the government said on Saturday.The 13th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19 was held under the chairpersonship of Union health minister Harsh Vardhan.The GoM was briefed on state-wise details of dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, along with the adequacy of isolation beds and wards, PPE kits, N95 masks, drugs, ventilators and oxygen cylinders, among others, the health ministry said.Even if the lockdown is lifted on May 3, there will be no public gatherings in UP till June 30. Speaking to senior district administration officials, police officials and chief medical officers on Friday evening, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that no kind of public gatherings would be permitted in the state till June 30 and a decision to ease the rule will be taken subsequently, depending on the situation then.The ministry of home affairs on Saturday issued a clarification on order allowing the opening of shops amidst the coronavirus-induced lockdown in the country.In rural areas, all shops, except those in shopping malls allowed to open. In urban areas, all standalone/neighbourhood shops and shops in residential complexes are allowed to open.Shops in markets/market complexes and shopping malls are not allowed to open. Sale by e-commerce companies will continue to be permitted for essential goods only. Sale of liquor and other items continues to be prohibited. No shops to be permitted to open in hotspots/containment zones.The lockdown has set off a banking revolution. Irrespective of which bank you have an account with — in a city or a village without a branch—you can call the local post office and ask it to deliver cash. In as little as 10-15 minutes, the postman or postwoman will reach your home. For this, you need not have an account with the post office.Between March 24 and April 23, post offices across India delivered Rs 412 crore in over 21 lakh such transactions, mostly in rural and unbanked areas, through a network of 1.36 lakh post offices which have been equipped with 1.86 lakh handheld AePS devices.The home ministry on Friday permitted all shops in residential and market complexes outside municipal limits and all neighbourhood, standalone shops as well as shops in residential complexes within municipal limits of non-containment zones to open during the lockdown. However, this concession has not been extended to single and multi-brand malls outside municipal limits and single-brand and multi-brand malls as well as market complexes within municipal limits.The timely imposition of lockdown after a ban on international air traffic helped India limit Covid-19 cases, which otherwise could have ballooned to over one lakh by now, the government said on Friday, highlighting that the situation was under control with close to 25,000 positive cases and the doubling rate now touching 10 days over the last three days.Ahmedabad city at present has a doubling rate of four days for Covid-19 cases. If the same rate continues till May 3 and post lockdown, the city will have 50,000 cases by May 15 and 8 lakh cases by May 31.When PM Modi announced a total lockdown of the country exactly a month ago, there were around 500 Covid-19 cases in India. But there were clear signs that the numbers were going to shoot up. The average daily growth in cases was 21.6% on March 24, which since dropped to 8.1%. Had we continued to grow at that rate, the number of cases would have crossed 2 lakh by now. But a growth rate of 8.1% three days into the fifth week of lockdown is still higher than what the worst-hit countries achieved after locking down for the same period. While Germany brought down the growth rate to 2%, the US was at 4.8%.World leaders pledged on Friday to accelerate work on tests, drugs and vaccines against Covid-19 and to share them around the globe, but the United States did not take part in the launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative.French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa were among those who joined a video conference to launch what the WHO had billed as a “landmark collaboration” to fight the pandemic.The aim is to speed development of safe and effective drugs, tests and vaccines to prevent, diagnose and treat Covid-19, the lung disease caused by the novel coronavirus — and ensure equal access to treatments for rich and poor.Looking for a ray of hope in a study that showed sunlight and disinfectants kill the Covid-19 virus quickly, US President Trump on Thursday wondered if they could somehow be introduced or injected into the human body, shocking doctors and scientists who rushed to warn people against consuming any such cleansers.Amid universal ridicule, Trump claimed on Friday that he was only being “sarcastic”, while his aides complained that the media had taken the remarks out of context.