India sees decline in new cases, deaths in last 24 hours

As many as 38,949 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative caseload to 3,10,26,829, said the Union health ministry on Friday morning. The fresh cases rested at 41,806 the day before.

The daily positivity rate has reached 1.99% and remained below 3% for 25 consecutive days now. The weekly positivity rate is at 2.14%.

The country also saw fatalities dipping in the duration with 542 more people succumbing to the disease. The cumulative death toll due to coronavirus in India now stands at 4,12,531.

In addition to this, recoveries surpassed new cases again as 40,026 people were discharged from various hospitals between Thursday and Friday. The total number of discharges has reached 3,01,83,876 and the recovery rate has improved to 97.28%.

As a result, there are 4,30,422 active cases left in the country and constitutes 1.39% of the total cases. The tally dipped by 1,619 in 24 hours.

Tests conducted so far
India has tested 44,00,23,239 samples for Covid-19 until now, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Among these, 19,55,910 tests were conducted on Tuesday as compared to 19,43,488 tests in the previous 24-hour period.

Vaccination in India
The country has so far administered 39,53,43,767 anti-Covid jabs. Out of the total, 38,78,078 shots were given in the last 24 hours.

While the country is on the verge of crossing the 40 crore mark in total inoculation, recent data has shown that the average number of operational vaccination centres in the country dropped by 28% in the first two weeks of July.

This month, India had about 34,000 operational vaccination sites, lower even than the first 20 days of June. Three states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh—saw this number drop by more than 50%.

Some state governments, including Tamil Nadu and Telangana, said the decrease was due to shortage of vaccines, while Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday blamed the states for mismanaging vaccine distribution.

Third wave scare
Noting that Covid-19 norms are being flouted in several parts of the country, the health ministry has told states to focus on public health measures to check the pandemic.

“Violations of Covid norms have been observed in various parts of the country, especially in hill stations, public transport and markets. Needless to say, such complacency at this juncture has the potential to result in another surge in cases,” Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states.

“It is imperative to adhere to the guiding principles of Covid-19 containment and management with a special focus on the five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he added. Live Mint