India's Omicron tally nears 5000 mark; active COVID cases in country highest in 211 days
NEW DELHI: India added 1,94,720 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,60,70,510 which includes 4,868 cases of the Omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The active cases have increased to 9,55,319, the highest in 211 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,84,655 with 442 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
Of the total 4,868 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,805 people have recovered or migrated so far.
Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,281 cases followed by Rajasthan at 645,Delhi 546, Karnataka 479 and Kerala 350.
The active cases comprise 2.65 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 96.01 per cent, the ministry said.
A total 2,11,298 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 26.
An increase of 1,33,873 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 11.05 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 9.82 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,46,30,536, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.34 per cent.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 153.80 crore.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
The 442 new fatalities include 296 from Kerala and 23 from Delhi.
A total of 4,84,655 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,669 from Maharashtra, 49,776 from Kerala, 38,379 from Karnataka, 36,886 from Tamil Nadu, 25,200 from Delhi, 22,937 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,936 from West Bengal.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed 153.7 crore on Tuesday with 76,68,282 vaccine doses being administered till 7 pm, the Union Health Ministry said.
More than 18 lakh (18,52,611) precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities since Monday.
Over 2,81,00,780 doses have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group so far.
The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase.
The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination has commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.
India began administering precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers including personnel deployed for election duty and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 amid the country witnessing a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron variant of the virus.