Coronavirus: India reports 11K+ new cases; over 450 deaths
India on Friday reported over 11,000 new COVID-19 cases with a daily test positivity rate of 0.98%. Active cases dipped slightly, making up just 0.37% of the total cases. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.28%, the highest since March 2020. The weekly positivity rate stood at 0.92%. It has been under 2% for the last 56 days.
Why does it matter?
Daily COVID-19 infections in India have stabilized in the past few months. However, experts warn that the impact of winter and greater social mixing could cause cases to increase soon. Currently, Kerala accounts for over half of all nationwide active cases. India is now looking to expand its vaccination drive by rolling out Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D this month.
India's tally nears 3.45 crore
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,44,89,623 COVID-19 cases till Friday morning. The death toll has reached 4,65,082. So far, 3,38,97,921 patients have recovered, while 1,26,620 cases involve active infections. In the past 24 hours, India added 11,106 infections, 12,789 recoveries, and 459 fatalities. Kerala alone added 372 deaths after updating a backlog of 321 fatalities.
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 3 crore-mark on June 23. India had crossed the 1 crore-mark on December 19, 2020, and the 2 crore-mark on May 4, 2021.
62% new cases concentrated in Kerala
Maharashtra reported 963 new COVID-19 cases along with 972 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 6,111 new cases and 7,202 discharges. Meanwhile, the third worst-hit Karnataka added 313 new cases and 369 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 775 new cases and 896 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 222 new cases and 275 recoveries.
115 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 1:30 pm on Friday, India had administered over 115.3 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 39 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 76.2 crore people have received at least one dose. On Wednesday alone, India administered nearly 25 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 1:30 pm, including over 17.9 lakh second doses, and over 7 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
Drug regulator reviews Molnupiravir's EUA
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) reportedly reviewed the grant of Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Merck's anti-COVID-19 drug molnupiravir on Thursday. Molnupiravir is the first oral antiviral drug for COVID-19.
