India reported 3,303 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infections to 4,30,68,799. According to the Union Health Ministry, the active cases increased to 16,980, with 701 new active cases in a 24-hour time span.
As many as 39 people succumbed to Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry’s latest data. With this, the death toll due to Covid-19 climbed to 5,23,693. The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.66 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.61 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,25,28,126, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.22 per cent, it said.
The total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive has exceeded 188.40 crore. India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, 2021 and three crore on June 23.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said that though COVID-19 cases have increased in the capital, people are not developing severe disease and the hospitalisation rate is low.
He attributed the low hospitalisation rate to vaccination and naturally acquired immunity.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) today gave emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children between the age group of 6-12 amid an uptick in the Covid cases in schools
Meanwhile, based on genome-sequencing analysis, the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (INSACOG) has said very few recombinant variants of the coronavirus have been found in the country and none of those has shown either increased transmission, locally or otherwise, nor were they associated with severe disease or hospitalisation. INSACOG, in its weekly bulletin of April 11 that was released on Wednesday, said the incidences of suspected recombinants and the possible public health relevance are being closely monitored.
Earlier, interacting with the chief ministers of several states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday warned that the “Covid challenge” has not yet been surpassed. “Despite managing the Covid crisis well as compared to other countries, we can see an uptick in cases in states now. We have to stay alert,” Modi said. He added that administering vaccine to every eligible child at the earliest is our priority, while stressing the need to ensure Covid-appropriate behaviour in public places.
The review meeting was attended by several chief ministers including West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann.
