COVID-19: India reports 67K+ new cases; 1.2K more deaths
India on Thursday reported over 67,000 new COVID-19 cases, a marginal decline of around 2,300 cases from the previous day. The active caseload currently stands at 7,90,789, which accounts for 1.86% of the total cases. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 96.95%. The daily positivity rate also continued to decline and currently stands at 4.44%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Thursday reported a marginally lower number of cases than the day before. Meanwhile, both the active caseload and daily positivity rate continued to record a declining trend. Notably, this is the fourth consecutive day when India's daily infections remained below the one-lakh mark. This comes after India witnessed a massive spurt in cases in December-end and at the beginning of January.
1.6L patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,24,78,060 COVID-19 cases till Thursday morning. The death toll reached 5,06,520. With 1,67,882 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries climbed to 4,11,80,751. In the past 24 hours, 67,084 new cases and 1,241 fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 6.58%.
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 7,142 new COVID-19 cases along with 20,222 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 23,253 new cases and 47,882 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 5,339 fresh cases and 16,749 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 3,971 new cases and 16,473 discharges. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 1,679 new cases and 9,598 recoveries.
India's second wave peaked on May 7
India's second wave peaked on May 7, 2021, 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 declined after the second wave peaked, India crossed the three-crore mark on June 23. The country crossed the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020, and the two-crore mark on May 4, 2021.
Over 171 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 11 am on Thursday, India administered over 171.2 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, more than 74.2 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 95.4 crore people have received one dose. On Thursday alone, India administered nearly 4 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 11 am, including over 2.8 lakh second doses and roughly 64,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Over 1.5 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.53 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Thursday, nearly 16,000 healthcare/frontline workers and over 43,000 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 11 am.
First nasal spray for COVID-19 treatment launched in India
Mumbai-based innovation-driven global pharma company Glenmark has launched a nitric oxide nasal spray (labeled FabiSpray) in India for the treatment of adult patients suffering from COVID-19. Glenmark has developed the spray in partnership with SaNOtize. Notably, Glenmark received manufacturing and marketing approval for its medicine from India's drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India, as part of the accelerated approval process.
