COVID-19: India reports 9K+ infections; 437 more deaths
India on Wednesday reported over 9,000 new COVID-19 cases with an active caseload of 1.11 lakh, the lowest in 537 days. Active cases now account for just 0.32% of the total cases. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.33%, the highest since March 2020. Meanwhile, India's daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.80%. It has been under 2% for the last 51 days.
Why does it matter?
India on Wednesday reported a marginally higher number of COVID-19 cases compared to the last two days. India's positive trend is reflected in the weekly positivity rate, which remained below 1% for the ninth consecutive day. Kerala continues to account for roughly 50% of the country's active infections. Meanwhile, the Centre flagged the issue of low testing in 11 states and union territories.
India's tally crosses 3.45 crore
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,45,35,763 COVID-19 cases till Wednesday morning. The death toll reached 4,66,584. With 10,949 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stood at 3,39,57,698. In the past 24 hours, 9,283 new cases and 437 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.93%. It has remained under 2% the last 61 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 766 new COVID-19 cases along with 929 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 4,972 new cases and 5,978 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 224 new cases and 379 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 741 new cases and 808 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 196 new cases and 242 recoveries.
Nearly 119 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 3 pm on Wednesday, India had administered over 118.9 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, roughly 41.5 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 77.3 crore people have received at least one dose. On Wednesday alone, India administered over 52 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 3 pm, including over 39 lakh second doses, and over 13 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
Centre concerned over drop in testing
Meanwhile, the Centre has raised concern over declining weekly COVID-19 tests in 11 states/UTs. These regions include Nagaland, Ladakh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Punjab, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir. In a letter, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan directed these states/UTs to increase COVID-19 tests to avoid missing infections.
