COVID-19: India reports 17,073 new cases; 21 more deaths
India on Monday reported over 17,000 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of over 5,000 cases from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 94,420, which accounts for 0.22% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 17,073 fresh cases and 21 more fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.57%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Monday reported a higher number of COVID-19 cases than the day before. Meanwhile, active caseload and positivity rates also recorded an increase on Monday. Among states/UTs, Maharashtra added the most number of daily cases to the tally. 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.
15,208 patients discharged
According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,34,07,046 COVID-19 cases until Monday, while the cumulative death count stands at 5,25,020. With 15,208 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,27,87,606. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 5.62% and 3.39%, respectively.
Maharashtra adds most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—recorded 6,493 new cases and 6,213 more recoveries. While Karnataka saw 133 new cases and 517 discharges, Tamil Nadu recorded 1,472 fresh infections and 691 recoveries. On the other hand, Delhi reported 1,891 new cases and 1,665 discharges. Meanwhile, Kerala has not yet updated its data for Sunday till the time of writing this report.
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 its peak on May 7, 2021.
Over 197 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Monday morning, India administered over 197.11 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 91.17 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 101.58 crore people have received at least one dose. On Monday alone, India administered nearly 10 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 1:45 pm, including over 5.4 lakh second doses and over 1.2 lakh first doses, according to the Co-WIN dashboard.
4.28 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Furthermore, India has administered over 4.28 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Monday, over 2.1 lakh people in the age group of 18-59 years and more than 1.2 lakh people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 1:45 pm.
COVID-19 deaths higher in young Indian women with comorbidities: Study
Young women having comorbidities like diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and hypertension had a higher risk of mortality due to COVID-19 than men during India's first phase of the pandemic, per a retrospective study. It was conducted by a team of researchers at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, on 2,586 hospitalized COVID-19 patients who were admitted there between April 8 and October 4, 2020.
