COVID-19: India reports 1L new cases, lowest in 61 days
India continues to see an improvement in its COVID-19 situation as the country reported just above one lakh new cases in the past 24 hours. Today's count marked a drop of 12% from yesterday's tally and the lowest daily surge in 61 days. The death toll has crossed 3,49,000, with 2,427 more fatalities added in the 24 hour-period. Here are more updates.
The 1,00,636 new cases took the nationwide tally to 2.89 crore. The country also witnessed 1,74,399 recoveries or discharges during the said period, according to the data from the Health Ministry. India's active cases have now declined to just above 14 lakh. The country has conducted 36.6 crore COVID-19 tests until June 6, the government says.
The daily positivity rate - the percentage of confirmed cases detected out of total samples - has dropped to 6.3 percent. India's daily positivity rate has remained under 10 percent for 14 straight days now.
Several South Indian states and Maharashtra continued to report a high number of daily COVID-19 cases. Tamil Nadu reported 20,421 fresh cases, Karnataka logged 12,209 new cases while Kerala saw 14,672 more infections. Maharashtra, India's worst-hit state in the COVID-19 outbreak, reported 12,557 new infections - its most optimistic figure in nearly three months. The state has begun a phased reopening process from today.
More than 23 crore vaccine doses have been administered across India so far. However, states continue to report a serious shortage of doses and just 3.3% of the Indian population has been fully vaccinated as yet. The AIIMS in Delhi will begin clinical trials of the indigenous vaccine COVAXIN on kids from today. Till now, there is no approved vaccine for children in India.
As daily cases are falling, Delhi has begun a reopening process today. Shops in malls, markets, and standalone shops have been allowed to operate on an odd-even basis starting Monday. Further, the Delhi Metro has started operations with 50% capacity. Other states like Haryana and Sikkim have extended their COVID-19 lockdowns by another week, with some relaxations.
