India reported 1,096 fresh coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, a drop of 13 per cent from the previous day’s tally of 1,260. The country registered 81 deaths, taking the overall deaths since the start of the pandemic to 5,21,345. So far, India has logged 4,30,28,131 cases. According to the government’s latest data, 13,013 cases are active as of present.
Over 184.64 crore vaccine doses have been given so far in the country, with more than 11 lakh doses being administered till 7pm Saturday, the latest data by the health ministry showed. Over 1.84 crore vaccine doses have been given to the 12-14 age group so far across the country.
The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the overall infections, while the national recovery rate stood at 98.76 per cent, the health ministry said.
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Covid-19 cases in India have been declining after the country witnessed the peak of third wave in mid-January. The third wave of the pandemic was largely fuelled by the Omicron variant, considered highly infectious.
Amid a drop in cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has said no formal orders under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, will be issued by it any longer regarding the containment of Covid-19 in the national capital, given the overall improvement in the pandemic situation.
Even as India registers a fall in infections, the world is still witnessing a surge in parts of the country. According to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s latest report, a new strain of Covid-19 known as XE – first detected in Britain – may be more transmissible than any strain of Covid-19 reported so far. The XE strain is a recombinant variant of BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages of Omicron, the WHO said.
(With agency inputs)
