Coronavirus: India reports 11K+ new cases, 460 more deaths
India on Wednesday reported over 11,000 new COVID-19 cases with an active caseload of 1.39 lakh, the lowest in 264 days. Active cases now account for just 0.41% of the total cases. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.25%, the highest since March 2020. Meanwhile, India's daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.90%. It has been under 2% for the last 37 days.
Why does it matter?
Although India witnessed a marginal increase in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday compared to the day before, the overall situation in the country has been improving since mid-September. After weeks, India's daily positivity rate remained below 1% for the second consecutive day. Notably, a majority of the COVID-19 cases are concentrated in Kerala, which contributes roughly 50% of all active cases.
India's tally nears 3.44 crore
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,43,88,579 COVID-19 cases till Wednesday morning. The death toll reached 4,61,849. With 11,961 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stood at 3,37,87,047. In the past 24 hours, 11,466 new cases and 460 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.20%. It has remained under 2% the last 47 days.
India's second wave peaked on May 7
India's second wave peaked on May 7, 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 have declined since the second wave peaked, India crossed the three crore-mark on June 23. India had crossed the one crore-mark on December 19, 2020, and the 2 crore-mark on May 4, 2021
Kerala adds most new cases
Maharashtra reported 982 new COVID-19 cases along with 1,293 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 6,409 new cases and 6,319 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 293 new cases and 323 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 835 new cases and 924 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 231 new cases and 362 recoveries.
110 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 4 pm on Wednesday, India had administered over 109.9 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 35.4 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 74.6 crore people have received at least one dose. On Wednesday alone, India administered over 47.8 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 4 pm, including over 36.6 lakh second doses, and nearly 11.2 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
Plastic waste piles during pandemic
Eight million tonnes of plastic waste was produced globally during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Out of this, 25,000 tonnes have entered oceans. A significant portion will reach beaches and seabeds. During the pandemic, demands for single-use plastics, hand and foot gloves, face masks/shields, PPEs, etc., have increased.
