India today (15) recorded 41,100 new Covid-19 cases, which took the overall tally to 8,814,579.

There have been 447 new fatalities in the last 24 hours and the death toll has reached 129,635.

In Romania, at least 10 people have been killed and several others seriously injured in a fire at a hospital treating Covid-19 patients.

The blaze broke out in the intensive care unit of the public hospital in the north-eastern city of Piatra Neamt.

One doctor who tried to rescue patients is said to be in a critical condition after suffering serious burns.

Romania has reported more than 350,000 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, and 8,813 deaths.

Meanwhile, a number of European countries yesterday announced new restrictions to stem a deadly second wave of Covid-19.

Austria announced schools and non-essential shops would close from Tuesday, just two weeks after a partial lockdown was imposed.

Greece, battling a saturated national health system, announced it would shut all schools after imposing a nationwide night curfew from Friday.

Secondary schools had already been shuttered.

In Italy, the regions of Tuscany and Campania plunged into "red zones" of tough restrictions, which now cover 26 million of the 60 million population.

New anti-virus curbs also came into force in Ukraine, with all non-essential businesses ordered closed for the weekend.