COVID-19: India's single-day tally drops below 5,000 cases
India on Monday reported less than 5,000 new COVID-19 cases, a decline of around 1,000 cases from the previous day. The active caseload in the country currently stands at 54,118, which accounts for 0.13% of the total cases. In the past 24 hours, 4,362 new cases and 66 fatalities were reported. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 98.68%.
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India on Monday recorded fewer cases than the day before. Both active caseload and the weekly positivity rate are also witnessing a steady decline. Notably, India's daily tally dropped below the 5,000-mark on Monday for the first time in 660 days. The spike in cases in the last few months—dubbed India's third wave—has been attributed to the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Over 9,500 patients discharged
According to data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,29,67,315 COVID-19 cases till Monday morning, while the cumulative death count reached 5,15,102. With 9,620 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,23,98,095. The daily positivity rate and the weekly positivity rate were recorded at 0.71% and 0.73%, respectively.
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 362 new COVID-19 cases along with 688 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 1,408 new cases and 3,033 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 229 fresh cases and 264 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, witnessed 196 new cases and 554 discharges. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh reported 79 new cases and 167 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 178 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 10:00 am on Monday, India administered over 178.8 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 80.1 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 96.7 crore people have received one dose. On Monday alone, India administered over 1,00,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses till 10:00 am, including over 87,000 second doses and over 12,000 first doses, according to Co-WIN.
Over 1.94 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Meanwhile, India has administered over 1.94 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Monday, over 3,000 healthcare/frontline workers and over 7,800 elderly people were given the precautionary dose till 10 am.
Mix-and-match of booster doses will be based on science: Centre
The Centre on Thursday said the decision on mixing and matching of COVID-19 booster doses would be taken based on science. Studies are going on regarding the mixing and matching of booster doses, and they are being "constantly reviewed," said NITI Aayog Member (Health) VK Paul. "As per the new information and science and knowledge," a decision would be taken, Paul added.
