COVID-19: India logs 8,329 fresh cases, 24 more fatalities
What's the story
India on Saturday reported over 8,000 new COVID-19 cases, an increase of around 700 cases from the previous day. The country's active caseload currently stands at 40,370, which accounts for 0.09% of the total cases recorded so far. In the past 24 hours, a total of 8,329 fresh cases and 24 more fatalities were recorded. Meanwhile, the country's recovery rate stood at 98.69%.
Context
Why does this story matter?
India on Saturday reported 8.94% higher COVID-19 cases than the day before. This is the third consecutive day that India witnessed an increase in its daily tally of COVID-19 cases. The nation is currently witnessing a resurgence of COVID-19 cases. This comes after the country recorded a sharp decline in infections from January end to April beginning.
Statistics
3,591 patients discharged
According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, India reported a total of 4,32,13,435 COVID-19 cases until Saturday morning, while the cumulative death count stands at 5,24,757. With 4,216 fresh discharges, the number of total recoveries in the country climbed to 4,26,48,308. On the other hand, the daily and weekly positivity rates were recorded at 2.41% and 1.75%, respectively.
States
Maharashtra adds most new cases
Maharashtra—one of the worst-hit states so far—recorded 3,081 new cases and 1,323 more recoveries. While Karnataka saw 525 new cases and 228 discharges, Tamil Nadu recorded 219 fresh infections and 137 recoveries. On the other hand, Delhi reported 655 new cases and 419 discharges. Moreover, Kerala recorded 2,415 fresh infections and 1,301 recoveries on Friday.
Trend
India's third wave peaked in January
India witnessed a massive spurt in coronavirus cases in December-end and at the beginning of January—dubbed India's third wave—due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. The third wave peaked on January 21, 2022, when 3.47 lakh single-day cases were recorded. However, this was lower compared to the second wave, when 4.14 lakh single-day infections were recorded at its peak on May 7, 2021.
Vaccination
Over 194.9 crore vaccine doses administered
As of Saturday evening, India administered over 194.9 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses. Overall, over 89.85 crore people have been fully vaccinated, while more than 101.33 crore people have received at least one dose. On Saturday alone, India administered over 11.6 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses till 6:00 pm, including over 7.15 lakh second doses and more than 1.43 lakh first doses, per the Co-WIN dashboard.
Data
3.73 crore 'precautionary' doses administered
Further, India has administered over 3.73 crore "precautionary" doses since January 10. On Saturday, over 1.91 lakh people in the age group of 18-59 years and over 1.08 lakh people aged above 60 years were given the precautionary dose till 6:00 pm.