COVID-19: India reports 3,377 new cases, 60 more deaths
India on Friday reported over 3,000 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of over 70 cases from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 17,801, which accounts for 0.04% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 3,377 new cases and 60 COVID-19-related fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.74%.
Why does this story matter?
India has been witnessing a gradual spike in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks. On Friday, too, the country reported higher infections than the day before. Similarly, active caseload and positivity rates have also witnessed a steady rise over the last few days. Among states and union territories, Delhi has been adding the most number of cases to the daily national tally.
Nearly 2,500 patients discharged
According to data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,30,72,176 COVID-19 cases until Friday morning, while the cumulative death count reached 5,23,753. With 2,496 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,25,30,622. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 0.71% and 0.63%, respectively.
Delhi adds majority of new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—reported 165 new cases and 157 more recoveries on Thursday. Karnataka added 154 new cases and 116 recoveries, while Tamil Nadu witnessed 73 new cases and 32 discharges. On the other hand, Delhi reported 1,490 new cases and 1,070 discharges. Meanwhile, Kerala reportedly recorded 412 new COVID-19 cases and 275 recoveries on Thursday.
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 188.6 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Friday morning, India has administered over 188.6 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 85.7 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 100.2 crore people have received one dose. On Friday alone, India administered over 3.3 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 10:30 am, including over 2.2 lakh second doses and nearly 60,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
2.64 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Moreover, India has administered over 2.64 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Friday, over 22,000 people in the age group of 18-59 years and nearly 30,000 people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 10:30 am.
Vaccinating children government's priority: PM Modi
During his interaction with chief ministers earlier on Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi stressed the need to vaccinate children in view of the increase in cases in India. He said the government's priority is to vaccinate all eligible children at the earliest with special campaigns in schools. Stating the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, Modi added vaccination is the biggest protection against the virus.
