On Wednesday, India registered a rise in daily Covid-19 cases as 2,08,921 more infections were reported in the country — taking the tally to 2,71,57,795. India also reported 4,157 more deaths due to the infection, pushing the nationwide toll to 3,11,388. On Tuesday, the country had recorded the lowest death toll in 21 days with 3,511 fresh fatalities. India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4.

Biden orders review of Covid origins as lab leak theory debated.

President Joe Biden ordered aides to determine the origin of the virus that causes Covid-19, saying on Wednesday that U.S. intelligence agencies are pursuing rival theories potentially including the possibility of a laboratory accident in China. Intelligence agencies are considering two likely scenarios but still lack strong confidence in their conclusions and are hotly debating which is more probable, Biden said. The conclusions were detailed in a report to Biden, who asked his team in March to detail whether the novel coronavirus “emerged from human contact with an infected animal or from a laboratory accident,” according to the president’s written statement.