Coronavirus / India reports lowest daily COVID-19 cases in nearly 7 months at 18,166 cases

New Delhi: India reported 18,166 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the lowest single-day rise in nearly seven months, which pushed the country’s cumulative infection tally to 33,953,475, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Sunday. This is the second consecutive day that India recorded less than 20,000 new Covid-19 cases. On Saturday, India reported 19,740 fresh Covid-19 infections, taking the active caseload to 236,643—the lowest in nearly seven months.

The active Covid-19 cases declined to 230,971, according to the ministry's data updated at 8am. This is their lowest count in 208 days, while their contribution in the national tally, at 0.68 per cent, is the lowest since March last year, the health ministry said. Data also showed that 23,624 more patients were discharged, taking the total number of such cases to 33,271,915, with the recovery rate rising to 97.99 per cent. The recovery rate is at its highest since March 2020, the Union health ministry said in a statement. The number of fatalities due to the infection rose to 450,589, as 214 more patients died in the last 24 hours. Deaths constitute 1.33 per cent of the overall caseload.

Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) noted that 12,83,212 more samples were tested for the coronavirus disease on Saturday, taking the total samples tested to 58,25,95,693. The ministry also stated that the latest daily positivity rate stood at 1.42 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is at 1.57 per cent. This is for the 41st and 107th straight days, respectively, that these have been below the 3 per cent mark.

India's cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage crossed 946.2 million on Saturday, said the health ministry. The Covid-19 vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to states and Union Territories for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain. The latest phase of vaccination began on June 21.