COVID-19: India reports 29,689 fresh cases, 42,363 recoveries in last 24 hours

India recorded 29,689 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said on Tuesday. The total death count stands at 4,21,382 with 415 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the active caseload has dropped to under 4 lakh and stands at 3,98,100; and the total recoveries have surged to 3,06,21,469. 

The last time India reported less than 30,000 COVID-19 cases was on March 17, right before the second wave started peaking. The Health Ministry stated that the active caseload has fallen below the 4 lakh mark after a gap of 124 days and constitutes 1.27% of the total cases.

With 42,363 patients recovering during the last 24 hours, the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.33 per cent while the daily positivity rate has declined to 1.73 per cent. 

Coming to the nationwide vaccination drive, the Health Ministry said that 44,19,12,395 vaccine doses have been administered so far and the number of people inoculated with both doses stands at 9,53,96,246. The total number of Coronavirus tests conducted on Monday, July 26, were 17,20,110; making the total number of tests conducted so far to 45,91,64,121. 

COVID-19 cases in India

The latest data suggests that five states, namely, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have accounted for the surge in the past few weeks. Kerala now accounts for almost half of the COVID-19 daily caseload in the country with the southern state recording 17,466 new infections on Sunday, July 25 against the country's tally of  39,361. Following a hike in COVID-19 cases in India, many states have started imposing restrictions and curfews to contain the spread of the virus.

Of these 5 states acting as the top contributors for India's COVID-19 situation, four of them have reduced average daily testing in the last week with Andhra Pradesh,  Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu having testing rates of 12 per cent, 1.6 per cent,  6.6 per cent and  6.6 per cent respectively. 

Niti Aayog member, Dr V K Paul told Delhi government to remain watchful as the unlock activities could lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases in India. Dr Samiran Panda of the Indian Council of Medical Research also told the Delhi Disaster Management Authority during a meeting on July 9 that the third wave of COVID-19 is “unlikely to be as severe as the second wave”.

As the threat of an impending third wave knocks on the door, the Central Government is determined to vaccinate the majority of its population by the end of 2021. As per Union Government's vaccine policy from June 21, 75 per cent of the vaccine stock is being procured and distributed to the states free of cost for all adults aged above 18. The Centre also hinted at the possibility of all the adults in the country getting the jab by year-end. 

(IMAGE- PTI/PIXABAY/REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)