COVID-19: India logs 3,545 new cases, 27 more deaths
India on Friday reported over 3,500 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of more than 250 cases from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 19,688, which accounts for 0.05% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 3,545 new cases and 27 COVID-19-related fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.74%.
Why does this story matter?
India on Friday reported higher COVID-19 cases than the day before. However, both active caseload and daily positivity rate recorded a decline on Friday. Notably, India is witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases after recording a sharp decline from January end to April beginning. Meanwhile, a recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) claimed that India had under-reported COVID-19 deaths in 2020-21.
3,549 patients discharged
According to data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,30,94,938 COVID-19 cases until Friday morning, while the cumulative death count reached 5,24,002. With 3,549 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,25,51,248. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 0.76% and 0.79%, respectively.
Delhi continues to add most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—recorded 233 new cases and 173 more recoveries on Thursday. Karnataka added 191 new cases and 138 recoveries, while Tamil Nadu witnessed 58 new cases and 59 discharges. On the other hand, Delhi reported 1,365 new cases and 1,472 discharges. Meanwhile, Kerala was yet to report its COVID-19 data for Thursday till the time of filing this report.
India's third wave peaked in January
Notably, 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.
India administers nearly 190 crore vaccine doses
As of Friday morning, India has administered over 189.8 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 86.5 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 100.5 crore people have received at least one dose. On Friday alone, India administered over 11 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 2:15 pm, including over 7.6 lakh second doses and more than 2.24 lakh first doses, according to Co-WIN.
2.78 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Moreover, India has administered over 2.78 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Friday, over 75,000 people in the age group of 18-59 years and nearly 80,000 people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 2:15 pm.
India's COVID-19 toll over 47 lakh, claims WHO
Meanwhile, a new report by the World Health Organization on Thursday claimed India witnessed nearly 10 times higher COVID-19 deaths in 2020-21 than the official figures. It claimed 47.4 lakh people died in India due to the pandemic between January 2020 and December 2021. However, India's official figure for this period was about 4,80,000. Notably, India objected to the report, questioning the WHO's methodology.
