COVID-19: India reports 12K new cases, 311 more deaths
India on Wednesday reported nearly 12,000 new COVID-19 cases with an active caseload of 1.51 lakh, the lowest in 252 days. Active cases now account for just 0.44% of the total cases, the lowest since March 2020. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.22%, the highest since March 2020. Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 vaccinations have crossed the 107 crore doses so far.
Why does it matter?
Although India witnessed a marginal increase in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday compared to the day before, the seven-day rolling average continued to decline. This indicates a positive trend in India's outbreak. Moreover, over 50% of all new cases are concentrated in Kerala. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reviewed low vaccination coverage in over 40 districts across the country.
India's tally crosses 3.43 crore
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3.43 crore COVID-19 cases till Wednesday morning. The death toll reached 4,59,191. With 14,159 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stood at 3.36 crore. In the past 24 hours, 11,903 new cases and 311 more deaths were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.18%. It has remained under 2% the last 40 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 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.
Kerala adds most infections
Maharashtra reported 1,078 new COVID-19 cases along with 1,095 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 6,444 new cases and 8,424 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 239 new cases and 376 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 973 new cases and 1,114 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 259 new cases and 354 recoveries.
107 crore vaccine doses administered
Till Wednesday noon, India had administered over 107.39 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, more than 33 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 73.8 crore people have received at least one dose. Till 3:30 pm, India administered nearly 24 lakh more doses, including 15.2 lakh people who were administered their second doses, and 8.7 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
Districts with low vaccinations pulled up
Modi held a virtual meeting with the District Magistrates of over 40 districts with low vaccination coverage. He urged officials to start door-to-door vaccinations and quash misinformation to tackle vaccine hesitancy. These districts have reported less than 50% coverage of the first dose and even lower coverage of the second dose. They are spread across Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Meghalaya.
