COVID-19: India reports over 2.3L cases; 893 more deaths
India on Sunday reported over 2.3 lakh new COVID-19 cases, a decline of more than 1,000 from the previous day. Active cases now account for 4.59% of the total cases. The recovery rate has also climbed to 94.21%. The daily positivity rate recorded a decline and currently stands at 14.50%. So far, India has conducted a total of 72.73 crore COVID-19 tests.
Why does it matter?
India on Sunday reported marginally fewer COVID-19 cases than the day before. Both daily positivity rate and active caseload have also recorded a decline on Sunday. This reflects an improving COVID-19 situation in India after witnessing an over 20 times jump in daily cases in less than a month. The spike in cases has been attributed to the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
3.5L patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India witnessed a total of 41,092,522 COVID-19 cases till Sunday morning. In the past 24 hours, 2,34,281 new cases and 893 fresh fatalities were reported. The death toll stands at 4,94,091 while the active caseload was recorded at 18,84,937. With 3,52,784 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stand at 3,87,13,494. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 16.40%.
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 27,971 new COVID-19 cases along with 50,142 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 50,812 new cases and 47,649 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 33,337 fresh cases and 69,902 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 24,418 new cases and 27,885 discharges. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 11,573 new cases and 9,445 recoveries.
Over 165 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 9:30 am on Sunday, India has administered over 165.69 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 70.5 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 94 crore people have received at least one dose. On Sunday alone, India administered over 36,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses till 9:30 am, including nearly 25,000 second doses and nearly 10,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Over 1.1 crore precautionary doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.1 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Sunday, over 1,374 healthcare/frontline workers and more than 1,500 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 9:30 am.
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.
Further study required on NeoCov Coronavirus: WHO
The World Health Organisation on Friday said that further studies are required on the NeoCov coronavirus, discovered by Chinese scientists. A team of Wuhan researchers found a new kind of coronavirus, NeoCov, among bats in South Africa. Scientists say the virus may pose threat to humans in the future. Notably, the study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
