COVID-19: India reports over 1 lakh new cases; 865 deaths
India on Sunday reported over one lakh new COVID-19 cases, a sharp decline of over 20,000 cases from the previous day. In the past 24 hours, 1,07,474 new cases and 865 fatalities were reported. The active caseload currently stands at 12,25,011, which accounts for 2.90% of the total cases. Meanwhile, the country's COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 95.91%.
Why does this story matter?
India has been witnessing a decline in cases over the last few days after a peak in cases in December-end and at the beginning of January. Notably, both active caseload and daily positivity rates are also recording a sharp decline, indicating the improving situation. The peak in cases—dubbed India's third wave—has been attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Over 2 lakh patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,21,88,138 COVID-19 cases till Sunday morning. The death toll reached 5,01,979. With 2,13,246 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries climbed to 4,04,61,148. The daily positivity rate witnessed a marginal decrease and currently stands at 7.42%. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 10.20%.
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 11,394 new COVID-19 cases along with 21,677 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 33,538 new cases and 46,813 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 12,009 fresh cases and 25,854 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 7,524 new cases and 23,938 discharges. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 3,396 new cases and 13,005 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.
Nearly 170 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 12 pm on Sunday, India administered over 169.4 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, nearly 73 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 95 crore people have received at least one dose. On Sunday alone, India administered over three lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 12 pm, including over 2 lakh second doses and 90,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Over 1.4 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.4 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Sunday, over 12,000 healthcare/frontline workers and over 20,000 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 12 pm.
India third country to record 5 lakh COVID-19 deaths
India is the world's third country to cross the grim milestone of 5 lakh death associated with COVID-19. The other two countries to record over five lakh deaths include the United States and Brazil. Notably, India took 217 days to reach 5 lakh deaths from 4 lakh recorded on July 1 last year, the longest time to record 1 lakh fatalities.
