COVID-19: India logs 16,326 new cases in last 24 hrs; recovery rate above 98%

In the previous 24 hours, India has reported 16,326 new COVID-19 cases and 666 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. With this, the active caseload in the country has dropped to 1,73,728 cases, the lowest level in 233 days. Active cases in the country account for 0.5% of all cases reported so far, the lowest percentage since March 2020. The recovery rate continued at 98.16% in the latest 24 hours, the highest since March 2020, with 17,677 recoveries.

Additionally, the weekly positivity rate is 1.24%, while the daily positivity rate is at 1.20%. So far, more than 59.84 crore samples have been examined for the presence of the virus, according to the health ministry.

India's new COVID cases

These new figures come at a time when restrictions have been lifted across the country since the number of daily cases continues to be low. On Friday, Maharashtra's cinema halls, auditoriums, theatres, and multiplexes opened, with a maximum seating capacity of 50%. Maharashtra reported 1,632 new Coronavirus cases on Friday, up marginally from a day earlier, and 40 new fatalities, with 1,744 patients recovering from the infection, according to the state's health department. Eight of the 36 districts did not report any new cases of respiratory disease. The state's COVID-19 tally increased to 65,99,850 cases and fatalities, while the death toll soared to 1,39,965.

Meanwhile, Kerala has added 563 fatalities to its overall toll, resulting in a massive increase in deaths; a bulletin from the state health department showed 99 from Friday and 464 from the backlog. There were also 9,361 new infections in the state.

COVID-19 vaccination in India

On the vaccine front, 6,848,417 doses were given up, bringing the total number of vaccinations given out to more than 1.01 billion. On Thursday, the country passed the one billion dose mark (100 crore doses) just over nine months after the countrywide immunisation push began on January 16. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced on Saturday that more than 105.7 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been distributed to states and union territories as part of the nationwide vaccination programme. Furthermore, the ministry stated that more than 12 crores (12,02,54,104) of COVID vaccination doses are still available for distribution to states and union territories.

(with inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI