COVID-19: India reports 7K infections, lowest in 551 days
India on Tuesday reported nearly 7,000 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day tally in the last 551 days. The active caseload is now roughly 10 lakh, the lowest in 546 days. Active cases account for just 0.29% of the total cases. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.35%, the highest since March 2020. Meanwhile, India's daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.69%.
Why does it matter?
India's daily caseload of COVID-19 infections hit over a one-and-a-half-year low on Tuesday. India's positive trend is also reflected in its weekly positivity rate, which has remained below 1% for over two weeks. Meanwhile, the Centre has also asked states and union territories to ramp up testing in the wake of the new coronavirus variant called Omicron.
Over 10K patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,45,87,822 COVID-19 cases till Tuesday morning. The death toll reached 4,68,980. With 10,116 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stood at 3,40,18,299. In the past 24 hours, 6,990 new cases and 190 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.84%. It has remained under 1% the last 16 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 reports majority of cases
Maharashtra reported 536 new COVID-19 cases along with 853 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 3,382 new cases and 5,779 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 257 new cases and 205 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 730 new cases and 767 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 101 new cases and 138 recoveries.
Nearly 124 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 5 pm on Tuesday, India had administered nearly 124 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, nearly 45 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while nearly 79 crore people have received at least one dose. On Tuesday alone, India administered nearly 71 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 5 pm, including over 49 lakh second doses, and roughly 21.5 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
Centre asks states/UTs to ramp up testing
Amid concerns about the Omicron variant, the Centre on Tuesday asked states/UTs to ramp up COVID-19 testing to ensure early detection of cases. During a review meeting held on Tuesday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked states/UTs to ensure adequate infrastructure and supervised home isolation. Notably, India has not reported any confirmed cases involving the Omicron variant so far.
