Coronavirus / India's total COVID-19 cases reach 22.6L after one-day jump of 53,601 cases

New Delhi: India reported 53,601 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 871 deaths in the last 24 hours, which has pushed the country’s tally to beyond 2.26 million, Union health ministry’s data showed on Tuesday.

The country had been registering more than 60,000 Covid-19 daily for the past four days--there were 64,399 on August 9--according to the health ministry’s data. On Monday, there were 62,064 cases and more than 1,000 fatalities.

There were 47,746 patients of the viral disease who were discharged from hospitals across the country between Monday and Tuesday morning as the rate of recovery touched 69.79%. According to the health ministry data, 1,583,489 people have recovered from Covid-19 so far-- a milestone it has attributed to the policy of testing aggressively, tracking comprehensively and treating efficiently.

The gap between the number of recovered and active cases is more than 943,000 now. There are 639,929 active cases and 45,257 people have died of the coronavirus disease so far, the health ministry’s dashboard showed at 8am. India now has 28.21% active cases, 69.80% cured and 1.99% deaths, it also showed.

The health ministry also said on Tuesday that the expert committee on vaccine administration will meet on Wednesday to consider “logistics and ethical aspects” of procurement and administration of vaccines against the coronavirus disease. The committee, chaired by NITI Aayog’s Dr VK Paul, will engage with stakeholders including state governments and vaccine manufacturers, the health ministry added.

The government had formed the expert committee comprising representatives from all relevant ministries and institutions to oversee all aspects of its Covid-19 vaccine plan. It has been tasked with the identification of the vaccine to buying to financing the purchase to distribution and administration.

The panel will pick the vaccine or vaccines that India can use, plan the finances for what is sure to be an expensive purchase running into billions of dollars, and prioritise the sequence of administration.