India logs over 18,000 COVID cases in last 24hrs, lowest tally in 7 months

In a major breakthrough, India has recorded its lowest daily caseload in nearly 7 months. According to Union Health Ministry data, in the last 24 hours, India reported 18,166 new cases, which is the lowest since March 2021. Meanwhile, as of October 10, the number of COVID-related death cases has also shown a downward graph with less than 250 fatalities from October 8.

According to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), the current record also highlights that India has recorded less than 50,000 daily new cases for 105 continuous days. As the country continues to fight Coronavirus, the national COVID recovery rate has displayed a massive positive response with over 3 crore recoveries in the country in total. With 23,624 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, the rate has crept up to 97.99%. According to MIB, the number of active cases has also seen a considerable drop. Currently, the number stands at 2,30,971 cases (1.42%), which is also the lowest in the last 208 days.

State-wise COVID-19 count

As per the latest updates from MoHFW, Kerala stands at the top of the list with 9,470 cases and 101 deaths on Saturday, followed by Maharashtra with 2,484 fresh positive cases and 44 fatalities on Saturday. This was followed by West Bengal with 776 news cases and 12 deaths as revellers have begun visiting Durga Puja pandal in large numbers. Meanwhile, the overall COVID-19 cases have displayed a major drop due to the robust vaccination drive undertaken by the MoHFW.

India ramps up COVID vaccination drive ahead of the festive season

To date, 18.8% of the total population i.e. 26,00,58,462  people have been completely vaccinated against COVID-19 in over 50,000 inoculation centers pan India. With this the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine coverage has crossed 94.70 crores, bringing India closer to meet the Health Ministry's target of vaccinating 100crore in the next few days.

According to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, if at least 19 states beef up the inoculation pace, the country will meet its target within the festive season. However, he also added that with the festivities kicking off, it is mandatory to abide by the COVID guidelines in order to avert a resurgence of cases. Meanwhile,

Image: PTI representative