COVID-19: India logs 67,597 new cases; 1,188 fresh fatalities
India on Tuesday reported over 60,000 new COVID-19 cases, a decline of over 15,000 cases from the previous day. The active caseload currently stands at 9,94,891, which accounts for 2.35% of the total cases. In the past 24 hours, 67,597 new cases and 1188 fatalities were reported. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 96.46%.
Why does the story matter?
India on Tuesday reported 19.4% fewer COVID-19 cases than the day before. Notably, the single-day COVID-19 infection remained below the one-lakh mark for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. India's COVID-19 situation is improving gradually over the last few days after a peak in cases in December-end and at the beginning of January. The spike in cases was attributed to the Omicron variant.
1.8L patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,23,39,611 COVID-19 cases till Tuesday morning. The death toll reached 5,04,062. With 1,80,456 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries climbed to 4,08,40,658. The daily positivity rate also witnessed a sharp decline on Tuesday and currently stands at 5.02%. Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 8.30%.
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 6,436 new COVID-19 cases along with 18,423 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 22,524 new cases and 49,586 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 6,151 fresh cases and 16,802 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 5,104 new cases and 21,027 discharges. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 1,597 new cases and 8,766 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 170 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 10 am on Tuesday, India administered over 170.1 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, more than 73.4 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 95.2 crore people have received one dose. On Tuesday alone, India administered over 1.7 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 10 am, including over 1.1 lakh second doses and nearly 30,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Over 1.4 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.45 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Tuesday, over 8,500 healthcare/frontline workers and over 23,000 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 10 am.
No information on dead bodies dumped in Ganga: Centre
The Centre on Monday said that it has no information on the number of dead bodies found floating in the Ganga during the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 infections. The government's admission came in response to a question from Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien. Derek sought information on steps taken to dispose of the bodies in accordance with COVID-19 protocols.
