COVID-19: India reports 7K+ infections; 306 more deaths
What's the story
India on Sunday reported over 7,700 new COVID-19 cases with an active caseload of over 92,000, the lowest in 560 days. Active cases now account for just 0.27% of the total cases, the lowest since March 2020. The recovery rate was recorded at 98.36%. Meanwhile, India's daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.65%. It has been under 2% for the last 69 days.
Context
Why does it matter?
India on Sunday reported 2.7% fewer COVID-19 cases than the day before. Notably, India has recorded a steady decline in infections since mid-September. Both the active caseload and weekly positivity rate in the country have shown a steady decline over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, India's tally of Omicron cases also rose to 36 with the detection of three fresh cases on Sunday.
Statistics
Over 8k patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,46,90,510 COVID-19 cases till Sunday morning. The death toll reached 4,75,434. With 8,464 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stand at 3,41,22,795. In the past 24 hours, 7,774 new cases and 306 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.70%. It has remained under 1% the last 28 days.
Trend
India's second wave peaked on May 7
India's second wave peaked on May 7, when 4.14 lakh single-day cases were reported, over four times the number of cases reported during the first wave in mid-September 2020. Although infections have declined since the second wave peaked, India crossed the three crore-mark on June 23. India had crossed the one crore-mark on December 19, 2020, and the 2 crore-mark on May 4, 2021.
States
Kerala adds majority of cases
Maharashtra reported 807 new COVID-19 cases along with 869 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 3,795 new cases and 4,308 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 320 new cases and 317 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 681 new cases and 719 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 156 new cases and 188 recoveries.
Vaccination
Over 133 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 3 pm on Sunday, India had administered over 133 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 51.4 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 81.6 crore people have received at least one dose. On Sunday alone, India administered over 12.8 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 3 pm, including over 8.2 lakh second doses and roughly 4.5 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
Recent news
3 more Omicron cases detected in India
India's tally of Omicron variant cases has now risen to 36 as three more cases were detected in Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, and Karnataka. These are the first Omicron cases for Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh, while Karnataka's tally has risen to three. This comes after Delhi reported its second Omicron case on Saturday. Omicron cases have also been reported in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Karnataka.