COVID-19: India reports 2,067 new cases, 40 deaths
India on Wednesday reported over 2,000 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of around 800 cases from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 12,340, which accounts for 0.03% of the total cases so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 2,067 new cases and 40 COVID-19-related fatalities were reported. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate stood at 98.76%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Wednesday reported higher COVID-19 cases than the day before. Notably, the country's active caseload and positivity rates are recording an increasing trend. This came after India witnessed a sharp decline in cases as well as positivity rates over the last two months. Meanwhile, the central government had also lifted most of the COVID-19-related restrictions in the country from March 31.
1,547 patients discharged
According to data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,30,47,594 COVID-19 cases until Wednesday morning, while the cumulative death count reached 5,22,006. With 1,547 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,25,13,248. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 0.49% and 0.38%, respectively.
Delhi adds most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—reported 137 new cases and 108 more recoveries. Karnataka added 62 new cases and 48 recoveries, while Tamil Nadu witnessed 30 new cases and 27 discharges. Delhi reported 632 new cases and 414 discharges on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Kerala—which resumed sharing data on Monday after a brief halt—again didn't share data of its daily tally on Tuesday.
India's third wave peaked in January
Notably, India witnessed a massive spurt in coronavirus cases in December-end and at the beginning of January—dubbed India's third wave—due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. The third wave peaked on January 21, 2022, when 3.47 lakh single-day cases were recorded. However, this was lower compared to the second wave, when 4.14 lakh single-day infections were recorded at a peak on May 7, 2021.
Over 186 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Wednesday morning, India has administered over 186.8 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 84.5 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 99.8 crore people have received one dose. On Wednesday alone, India administered over 6.8 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 12:30 pm, including over 4.3 lakh second doses and over 1.4 lakh first doses, according to Co-WIN.
2.45 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Moreover, India has administered over 2.45 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Wednesday, over 40,000 people in the age group of 18-59 years and over 67,000 people aged over 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 12:30 pm.
Centre writes to 5 states over rising COVID-19 cases
The Centre on Tuesday wrote to five states—Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Mizoram—concerned over rising COVID-19 cases and increasing positivity rates there. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked these states to monitor clusters, intensify genome sequencing, and urged stricter vigil on the pandemic situation. Bhushan further asked states to monitor influenza-like illnesses on a regular basis for early detection of the virus' spread.
