COVID-19: India reports 15,102 new cases; 278 more deaths
What's the story
India on Wednesday reported over 15,000 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of around 1,500 cases from the previous day.
The active caseload in the country currently stands at 1,64,522, which accounts for 0.38% of the total cases.
In the past 24 hours, 15,102 new cases and 278 fatalities were reported.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 98.42%.
Context
Why does this story matter?
India on Wednesday reported a slightly higher number of COVID-19 cases than the day before.
However, the active caseload and the weekly positivity rate continue to record a declining trend.
This comes after India witnessed a massive spurt in cases in December-end and at the beginning of January.
The spike in cases—dubbed India's third wave—has been attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Statistics
Over 30,000 patients recovered
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,28,67,031 COVID-19 cases till Wednesday morning, while the death toll reached 5,12,622.
With 31,377 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries climbed to 4,21,89,887.
As the single-day tally has come down, the daily positivity rate and the weekly positivity rate have also declined to 1.28% and 1.80%, respectively.
States
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 1,080 new COVID-19 cases along with 2,488 more recoveries.
Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 5,691 new cases and 10,896 discharges.
The third worst-hit Karnataka added 767 fresh cases and 1,692 recoveries.
Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 671 new cases and 2,375 discharges.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 244 new cases and 662 recoveries.
Trend
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.
Vaccination
Over 176 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 9:30 am on Wednesday, India administered over 176.1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Overall, nearly 78 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 96.3 crore people have received one dose.
On Wednesday alone, India administered over 60,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses till 9:30 am, including over 47,000 second doses and over 7,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Data
1.82 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.82 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Wednesday, over 2,200 healthcare/frontline workers and nearly 3,000 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 9:30 am.
Recent news
BA.2 not more severe than original Omicron strain: WHO
The BA.2 strain of the Omicron variant of coronavirus is not more severe than the original, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
Senior WHO official Maria Van Kerkhove said they studied samples from various countries and didn't find any "difference in the severity of BA.1 compared to BA.2."
This is a relief for countries such as Denmark, where BA.2 has circulated widely.