”We are planning to create a strong network of 10,000 doctors in the next 15 days who are trained in leveraging XraySetu, so that when the third COVID wave comes, we are ready with solutions that can reach doctors in rural areas,” said non-profit organisation Artpark CEO Umakant Soni.

He said that India had 5,335 rural community health centres (CHCs) as of March 31, 2019 that can be used and private estimates indicate that two-third of them have a working X-Ray machine and a technician to operate it.

“Mixing of vaccine is not the protocol yet, same vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) are to be administered for both doses. Stick to the SOP. There’s international research underway on the mixing of vaccines as the possibility of a positive effect is also plausible but a harmful reaction cannot be ruled out either. It is an unresolved scientific question, science will settle it,” said NITI Aayog’s V K Paul at the press briefing.

“As per the Dutch Government ban on passenger flights from India that had come into force on April 26, 2021, has been lifted w.e.f 01 June 2021,” the India embassy here tweeted. However, there is still a European Union ban on non-EU travelers from countries where the coronavirus situation is considered very high risk.

Researchers at the Rockefeller University in the US analysed antibodies present in the blood of Covid patients, tracking the evolution of these molecules.

India recorded nearly 90.3 lakh Covid cases in May, by far the highest monthly count reported in any country so far. Although infections steadily declined through the second half of the month, the numbers overall were so high that the case count in May was 30% higher than the previous record of 69.4 lakh, also reported in India in the month of April.