Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla admitted after testing COVID positive, currently stable: AIIMS

The Speaker of Lok Sabha, Om Birla tested positive for COVID-19 on March 19, Friday. He was admitted to the AIIMS hospital on March 20, Saturday, for observation and is stable, as per a release by the Media Cell and Protocol Division of All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Among the first people to react to the news was Union Minister Jitendra Singh, who took to his official Twitter handle to extend his prayers, and wrote, "We, the members of Lok Sabha, keenly look forward to having you back at the earliest to preside over the House with your inimitable grace and dignity."

COVID-19 tally

In the last 24 hours, India recorded 43,846 new COVID-19 cases, which is the highest single-day rise recorded so far this year, swelling up the nationwide COVID-19 tally to 1,15,99,130. With 197 fatalities reported,  the death toll in the country rose 1,59,755,  the highest in the last 97 days. The case fatality rate now stands at 1.38 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. 

It is pertinent to mention here that India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 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. 

Second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive

After conducting vaccination drive of healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase, India began with the second phase of the vaccination drive on March 1. In the second phase, people aged 60 years or more as of January 1, 2022, and those with comorbidities who are in the age group of 45-59 years as of January 1, 2022, are being vaccinated. 10,000 crore people across the country are estimated to be vaccinated in around 10,000 government health centres and 12,000 private centres in this phase.