COVID-19: India reports 19,740 fresh cases in 24 hrs; active cases dip to 2.36 lakh

With 19,740 patients testing positive for Coronavirus infection in a single day, India's overall number of cases grew to 3,39,35,309, while the number of active cases fell to 2,36,643, the lowest in 206 days, according to figures provided on Saturday by the Union Health Ministry.

According to data updated at 8 a.m., the death toll has risen to 4,50,375, with 248 new fatalities. For 15 days in a row, the daily increase in COVID infections has been less than 30,000. The number of active cases has dropped to 2,36,643, accounting for 0.70 percent of overall infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has reached 97.98%, the highest since March 2020, according to the ministry.

In the last 24 hours, there has been a decline of 3,578 cases in the active caseload. The daily positivity rate was measured at 1.56%. For the last 40 days, it has been less than 3%. The positivity rate for the week was 1.62 percent. According to the ministry, it has been below 3% for the past 106 days. The number of persons who have recovered from the sickness has risen to 3,32,48,291, with a case fatality rate of 1.33%.

COVID-19 cases in Kerala

The state government decided on Friday to include 7,000 more COVID victims in its official death list, despite opposition claims of under-reporting of COVID deaths in Kerala, one of the worst hits states in India due to Coronavirus. State Health Minister Veena George stated that 7,000 more deaths that occurred before hospitals began uploading data on such deaths online will be added to the state's COVID death list. In June of this year, the hospitals began posting the COVID-19 deaths online. She informed reporters that these are deaths that have not been documented and added to the official death registry.

COVID-19 vaccination in India

The total number of doses provided in the country as part of the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign has surpassed 93.99 crore. On August 7, 2020, India's COVID-19 tally surpassed 20 lakh; 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, and 50 lakh on September 16. It surpassed 60 lakh on September 28th, 70 lakh on October 11th, 80 lakh on October 29th, 90 lakh on November 20th, and one crore on December 19, according to the data provided by the union health ministry. On May 4, India passed the grim milestone of two crore COVID-19 cases, and three crore on June 23.

Image: PTI/RepresentativeImage