COVID: India reports 7,992 new cases, 9,265 recoveries & 393 deaths in last 24 hours

India reported 7,992 new COVID 19 cases and 393 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The number of active cases in India is presently 93,277, the lowest in 559 days, according to the COVID bulletin. The number of active cases is presently 0.27%, the lowest since March 2020, accounting for less than 1% of the total. With the latest deaths, the death toll has risen to 4,75,128.

According to Union Health Ministry co-secretary Lav Agarwal, the two states with the greatest number of positive cases are Kerala and Maharashtra, with more than 43% and more than 10% of active cases, respectively. With 9,265 additional recoveries reported in the last 24 hours across the country, the overall number of recoveries is 3.41 14,331. The rate of recovery was 98.36%, the highest since March 2020. The daily positivity rate has stayed less than 2% for the last 68 days, at 0.64%. The weekly positive rate is 0.71% and has been less than 1% for the last 27 days.

India COVID tally

On Friday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) tested 12,50,672 samples for the existence of the virus. So far, 65,46,27,300 COVID19 tests have been performed throughout the country. Also, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in Dibrugarh, Assam, has developed a kit to detect the most recent COVID-19 mutation, Omicron. The current approach of identifying the virus via sample collection or RT-PCR often takes 2 to 3 days to discover the variant, whereas quick testing takes less than two hours.  Dr Biswajit Borkakoty of the ICMR explained in an exclusive interview with Republic TV that the Omicron strain is a variety of SARS-CoV-2, but it has a "major change in spike protein."

Meanwhile, 131.99 doses of the vaccine have been provided as part of the current national COVID-19 vaccination campaign. According to the ministry, more than 140 crores (1,40,07,00,230) doses of the vaccine have been distributed to states and UTs through a free government channel and the House's direct state procurement category.

India's Omicron Tally Rises To 32 

With patients recovering from the novel COVID-19 variant, India reported seven new infections of the highly mutated Omicron form from Maharashtra on Friday. After reporting zero cases in the previous three days, India now has 32 cases, with 17 in Maharashtra, nine in Rajasthan, three in Gujarat, two in Karnataka, and one in Delhi. Meanwhile, a UK returnee tested positive for COVID in Kolkata on Friday, and her samples are being submitted for genome sequencing to establish if she has infected the novel coronavirus variant Omicron.

(with inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI