Highlights: Italy reports 662 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours

Telangana recorded 596 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to over 2.72 lakh while three related fatalities pushed the toll to 1,470.

Thirteen more people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, raising the tally in the Union Territory to 4,742, a health department official said on Saturday. The death toll remained at 61 as no new fatality due to the infection was reported, he said. Of the fresh cases, five were detected during contact tracing, while eight have travel history, he said.

Amid a raging second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Canada reported 3,763 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the overall infection tally to 400,031, according health authorities.

Jharkhand's Covid-19 tally mounted to 1,09,990 as 219 more people tested positive for the infection, a health department official said on Saturday. The death toll rose to 978 after one more patient succumbed to the disease, he said.

The World Health Organization hopes to have half a billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines available for distribution by the global COVAX initiative in the first quarter of 2021, its chief scientist said on Friday. To date 189 countries have joined the COVAX programme, which is backed by the WHO and seeks to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. The United States is not among them, having secured bilateral deals.

South Korea reported 583 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, down from the previous day's 629, which was the highest since a first wave peaked in February and early March. Cases have been found largely in the capital Seoul and surrounding regions, where over half of the country's 52 million people live. Of the new cases, Seoul alone reported 235 infections.