India and Pakistan reported a big jump in new infections, driven by a resurgence in their richest states.

Maharashtra reported 25,833 cases in the last 24 hours with Nagpur district alone reporting 3,796 new cases of the novel coronavirus.

The number of daily Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra increased further on Thursday with the state crossing the 25,000-mark in daily cases, which is the highest single-day infection count so far this year.

Maharashtra reported 25,833 cases and 58 deaths in the last 24 hours, with Nagpur district alone reporting 3,796 new cases of the novel coronavirus. On Wednesday, Maharashtra had reported 23,179 new cases.

A total of 12,764 patients were discharged across the state after recovering from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. This brings Maharashtra's tally of recovered patients to 21,75,565. The state's recovery rate now stands at 90.79 per cent.

Germany, France and other European nations announced plans to resume using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday after EU and British regulators moved to shore up confidence in the shot, saying its benefits outweigh the risks.

Brazil registered its second deadliest day in its COVID pandemic, with 2,724 deaths, according to the Health Ministry on Thursday.

The country had 86,982 new COVID cases.

* France imposed a month-long lockdown on Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants forced President Emmanuel Macron to shift course.

* The Czech government has agreed to extend restrictions on movement among districts beyond March 21 until further notice as the pandemic ebbs slowly.

* France, Germany and Italy backed an EU threat to tighten vaccine exports as rifts over supply scarcity deepened.

* Britain will slow its vaccine rollout next month due to a supply crunch caused by a delay in a shipment of millions of AstraZeneca shots from India and the need to test a large batch, but it expects a first delivery of Moderna vaccines in coming weeks.

* The United States plans to send roughly 4 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in loan deals with the two countries, bowing to pressure to share vaccine with its allies.

* The Canadian province of Ontario is entering a third wave of the pandemic, Chief Medical Officer David Williams said, though he added that it was not clear how quickly infections would rise.

* As Brazil’s coronavirus outbreak spirals out of control, the country is facing a dangerous new shortage, threatening to drive fatalities even higher: a lack of staff in intensive care units.

* Mexico’s government said it would restrict movement on its southern border with Guatemala.

* U.S. land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least April 21.