COVID-19: India reports 10K+ infections; 313 more deaths
India on Sunday reported over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases with an active caseload of 1.22 lakh, the lowest in 532 days. Active cases now account for just 0.36% of the total cases. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.30%, the highest since March 2020. Meanwhile, India's daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.98%. It has been under 2% for the last 58 days.
Why does it matter?
India's COVID-19 situation has been improving gradually since mid-September. Both the weekly positivity rate and daily positivity rate remained below 1% for the sixth consecutive day; indicating a positive trend. Most new cases remained concentrated in Kerala, which accounts for roughly 50% of the country's active infections. At this stage, India's COVID-19 vaccination drive is also picking up pace.
India's tally crosses 3.45 crore
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,45,10,413 COVID-19 cases till Sunday morning. The death toll reached 4,65,662. With 12,329 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stood at 3,39,22,037. In the past 24 hours, 10,488 new cases and 313 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.94%. It has remained under 2% the last 58 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 majority of new cases
Maharashtra reported 833 new COVID-19 cases along with 2,271 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 6,075 new cases and 6,061 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 213 new cases and 370 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 765 new cases and 879 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 164 new cases and 196 recoveries.
Over 116 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 1 pm on Sunday, India had administered over 116.6 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, nearly 40 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 76.6 crore people have received at least one dose. On Sunday alone, India administered over 14.3 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 1 pm, including over 9.7 lakh second doses, and roughly 4.6 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
COVID-19 doubles stillbirth risk: Study
The risk of stillbirth is roughly twice as high for women with COVID-19 compared to those not infected, a study by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found. When the Delta variant became dominant, the risk of stillbirths nearly quadrupled, it said. The study was based on over 1.2 million deliveries between March 2020-September 2021 in the US.
