COVID-19: India reports over 1.7L new cases; 1K deaths
What's the story
India on Thursday reported over 1.7 lakh new COVID-19 cases, an increase of over 10,000 cases from the previous day.
The active caseload currently stands at 15,33,921, which accounts for 3.67% of the total cases.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 95.14%.
The daily positivity rate witnessed a marginal rise and currently stands at 10.99%.
Context
Why does the story matter?
After witnessing a decline in cases over the last few days, India on Thursday reported a marginally higher number of COVID-19 cases than the day before.
However, both active caseload and weekly positivity rate have continued with their declining trend.
This reflects the country's improving COVID-19 situation after a rapid surge in cases due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Statistics
Over 2.5L patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,18,03,318 COVID-19 cases till Thursday morning. The death toll reached 4,98,983.
With 2,59,107 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries climbed to 3,97,70,414.
In the past 24 hours, 1,72,433 new cases and 1008 fatalities were reported.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 12.98%.
States
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 18,067 new COVID-19 cases along with 36,281 more recoveries.
Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 52,199 new cases and 41,715 discharges.
The third worst-hit Karnataka added 20,505 fresh cases and 40,903 recoveries.
Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 14,013 new cases and 24,576 discharges.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 5,983 new cases and 11,280 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 167 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 10 am on Thursday, India administered over 167.8 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Overall, nearly 72 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 94.6 crore people have received at least one dose.
On Thursday alone, India administered over one lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 10 am, including over 71,000 second doses and 20,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Data
Over 1.2 crore precautionary doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.2 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Thursday, over 7,200 healthcare/frontline workers and over 14,000 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 10 am.
Study
Pregnant women with COVID-19 unlikely to transmit to babies
According to some studies, pregnant women who catch COVID-19 rarely transmit the virus to their newborns when they give birth.
However, a pregnant woman with COVID-19 risks serious illness which can also have negative health consequences for her newborn child even if the baby is born COVID-19-free.
These findings came as researchers are trying to understand the effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy and infants.