COVID-19: India reports 8K infections; 343 more deaths
India on Thursday reported nearly 8,000 new COVID-19 cases with an active caseload of over 87,000. Active cases now account for just 0.25% of the total cases, the lowest since March 2020. The recovery rate was recorded at 98.38%, the highest since March 2020. Meanwhile, India's daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.57%. It has been under 2% for the last 73 days.
Why does it matter?
India Thursday reported a marginally higher number of daily COVID-19 infections than the day before. However, both weekly positivity rate and active caseload have been showing signs of improvement for the last few weeks. The majority of new infections are concentrated in Kerala. Meanwhile, India is witnessing a gradual increase in the Omicron variant cases, which have now crossed 80.
Nearly 8K patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,47,18,602 COVID-19 cases till Thursday morning. The death toll reached 4,76,478. With 7,948 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stand at 3,41,54,879. In the past 24 hours, 7,974 new cases and 343 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.64%. It has remained under 1% the last 32 days.
India's second wave peaked on May 7
India's second wave peaked on May 7, when 4.14 lakh single-day cases were reported, over four times the number of cases reported during the first wave in mid-September 2020. Although infections have declined since the second wave peaked, India crossed the three crore-mark on June 23. India had crossed the one crore-mark on December 19, 2020, and the 2 crore-mark on May 4, 2021.
Kerala adds majority cases
Maharashtra reported 925 new COVID-19 cases along with 929 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 4,006 new cases and 3,898 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 317 new cases and 301 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 640 new cases and 692 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 163 new cases and 162 recoveries.
Over 135 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 3 pm on Thursday, India had administered over 135.6 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 53.3 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 82.3 crore people have received at least one dose. On Thursday alone, India administered over 47.4 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 3 pm, including over 32.6 lakh second doses and roughly 9.9 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
India's Omicron tally reaches 80
India's Omicron tally reached 80 after four more cases were detected in Delhi on Thursday. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal reported their first cases of the Omicron variant. Kerala and Maharashtra also reported four new cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus each. A total of 12 new cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 were reported across India on Wednesday.
Available boosters enough to fight Omicron: Fauci
Top American scientist Dr. Anthony Fauci said Wednesday the existing booster vaccine jabs efficiently work against the Omicron variant and there is no need for a variant-specific booster. Two doses of existing vaccines are 70% effective at preventing hospitalization in Omicron patients, he added. Notably, protection from two doses of vaccines against infection dropped to 33% compared with 80% before the emergence of Omicron.
