COVID-19: India reports 1,660 new cases, 4,100 more deaths
India on Saturday reported over 1,660 new COVID-19 cases, a slight decline from the previous day. On Saturday, India's single-day death toll stood at 4,100 as Maharashtra and Kerala added 4,005 and 79 backlog deaths, respectively. The active caseload currently stands at 16,741, which accounts for 0.04% of the total cases so far. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.75%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Saturday reported fewer COVID-19 cases than the day before. Notably, India's active caseload and positivity rates have been witnessing a steady decline over the past few weeks. This comes after India witnessed a massive spurt in coronavirus infections in December-end and at the beginning of January. The spike in cases—dubbed India's third wave—was attributed to the Omicron variant.
2,349 COVID-19 patients discharged
According to data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,30,18,032 COVID-19 cases till Saturday morning, while the cumulative death count reached 5,20,855. With 2,349 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,24,80,436. Meanwhile, the daily and the weekly positivity rates were recorded at 0.25% and 0.29%, respectively.
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 275 new COVID-19 cases along with 346 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 543 new cases and 872 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 89 fresh cases and 85 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 37 new cases and 66 discharges. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 40 new cases and 55 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 182 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Saturday morning, India has administered over 182.84 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 82.56 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 98.16 crore people have received one dose. On Saturday alone, India administered over 11.29 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 12:30 pm, including over 4.51 lakh second doses and more than 5.90 lakh first doses, according to Co-WIN.
2.11 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Moreover, India has administered over 2.11 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Saturday, nearly 21,000 healthcare/frontline workers and more than 65,000 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 12:30 pm.
No state reported deaths due to oxygen shortage: Government
Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the parliament that a few states/union territories responded to the Centre's requests to furnish details on COVID-19 mortalities due to oxygen shortage and none of them have reported confirmed deaths due to it. Notably, oxygen shortage and COVID-19-related deaths due to the shortage were widely reported during the second wave of coronavirus infection in India.
