COVID-19: India records 2,800 deaths as Bihar updates data
India on Sunday added nearly 2,800 COVID-19 deaths with the state of Bihar reconciling outbreak data. Nationwide daily infections were also recorded over 8,800 COVID-19. Active cases remained under one lakh, accounting for just 0.29% of the total cases. Correspondingly, the recovery rate was recorded at 98.35%. Meanwhile, at 0.73%, India's daily positivity rate remained under 2% for the 62nd day.
Why does this story matter?
India on Sunday reported 3% higher COVID-19 cases than the day before. The spike in COVID-19 deaths is due to Bihar and Kerala accounting for 2,426 and 263 past deaths, respectively. The overall COVID-19 situation in India is relatively stable. However, there have also been fresh concerns as India reported its fifth case involving the Omicron variant, feared to be more transmissible.
Nearly 7K patients discharged
According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 3,46,33,255 COVID-19 cases till Sunday morning. The death toll reached 4,73,326. With 6,198 fresh discharges, India's recoveries stand at 3,40,60,774. In the past 24 hours, 8,895 new cases and 2,796 fresh fatalities were reported. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 0.80%. It has remained under 1% the last 21 days.
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.
Kerala adds majority of new cases
Maharashtra reported 782 new COVID-19 cases along with 770 more recoveries. Kerala, the second worst-hit state after Maharashtra, reported 4,557 new cases and 5,108 discharges. The third worst-hit Karnataka added 397 new cases and 277 recoveries. Tamil Nadu, the fourth worst-hit state, reported 731 new cases and 753 recoveries. Andhra Pradesh reported 186 new cases and 191 recoveries.
Over 127 crore vaccine doses administered
Till 2:30 pm on Sunday, India had administered nearly 127.8 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 47.6 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while over 80.1 crore people have received at least one dose. On Sunday alone, India administered over 15.7 lakh more COVID-19 vaccine doses till 2:30 pm, including over 10.5 lakh second doses, and over 5.1 lakh first doses, according to CoWIN.
India's 5th Omicron case reported from Delhi
Delhi on Sunday reported its first Omicron case. This is India's fifth case involving the new variant. The infected patient is a 37-year-old Indian national, who recently returned from Tanzania. Reportedly, 16 more patients suspected of carrying the variant are under surveillance at Delhi's LNJP hospital. Other Omicron cases involve two patients in Bengaluru (Karnataka), one in Jamnagar (Gujarat), and one in Mumbai (Maharashtra).
