COVID-19: India logs 20,044 fresh cases, 56 more fatalities
India on Saturday reported over 20,000 new COVID-19 cases, a slight increase from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 1,40,760, which accounts for 0.32% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 20,044 fresh cases and 56 more fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.48%.
Why does this story matter?
India is currently witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. This comes after it recorded a sharp decline in infections from January end to April beginning. On Saturday, India reported more COVID-19 cases than the day before. Both the active caseload and daily positivity rates also recorded an increase within 24 hours. Among the states/UTs, West Bengal added the most cases to the tally.
18,301 patients discharged
According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,37,30,071 COVID-19 cases until Saturday, while the cumulative death count stands at 5,25,660. With 18,301 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,30,63,651. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 4.80% and 4.40%, respectively.
West Bengal adds most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—recorded 2,371 new cases and 2,914 more recoveries. While Karnataka saw 977 new cases and 1,013 discharges, Tamil Nadu recorded 2,312 fresh infections and 2,682 recoveries. On the other hand, Delhi reported 601 new cases and 526 discharges, and Kerala reportedly logged 2,979 infections and 3,867 recoveries. West Bengal recorded 3,067 new cases and 1,875 recoveries on Friday.
India's third wave peaked in January
India witnessed a massive spurt in coronavirus cases in December-end and at the beginning of January—dubbed India's third wave—due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. The third wave peaked on January 21, 2022, when 3.47 lakh single-day cases were recorded. However, this was lower compared to the second wave, when 4.14 lakh single-day infections were recorded at their peak on May 7, 2021.
Over 199 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Saturday morning, India administered over 199.87 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, nearly 93 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while nearly 102 crore people have received at least one dose. On Saturday alone, India administered over 18 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 2:00 pm, including over 3 lakh second doses and nearly 87,000 first doses, according to the Co-WIN dashboard.
5.40 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Furthermore, India has administered over 5.40 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Saturday, over 12 lakh people in the age group of 18-59 years and over 1.7 lakh people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 2:00 pm.
