COVID-19: India logs 'alarming' 7,240 fresh cases, 8 more fatalities
India on Thursday reported over 7,000 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of around 2,000 cases from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 32,498, which accounts for 0.08% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 7,240 fresh cases and eight more fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.71%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Thursday reported 40% higher COVID-19 cases than the day before. Notably, this is the second consecutive day that India witnessed a sharp increase in its daily tally of COVID-19 cases. The nation is currently witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. This comes after the country recorded a sharp decline in infections from January end to April beginning.
3,591 patients discharged
According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,31,97,522 COVID-19 cases until Thursday morning, while the cumulative death count stands at 5,24,723. With 3,591 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,26,40,301. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 2.13% and 1.31%, respectively.
Maharashtra adds most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—recorded 2,701 new cases and 1,327 more recoveries. While Karnataka saw 376 new cases and 231 discharges, Tamil Nadu recorded 195 fresh infections and 101 recoveries. On the other hand, Delhi reported 564 new cases and 406 discharges. Meanwhile, Kerala was yet to update its data 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 194 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Thursday morning, India administered over 194.4 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 89.58 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 101.28 crore people have received at least one dose. On Thursday alone, India administered over 2.56 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 10:30 am, including over 1.56 lakh second doses and more than 29,000 first doses, according to the Co-WIN app.
3.63 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Further, India has administered over 3.63 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Thursday, over 37,000 people in the age group of 18-59 years and over 37,000 people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 10:30 am.
