India’s active coronavirus case tally remained on a downward trajectory as the country readies itself for a nationwide dry run of vaccination today.
Authorities reported little over 19,000 fresh cases in 24 hours taking the total tally to 1,03,05,788 in the world’s second-worst infected country, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on Jan. 2. This includes nearly 1.5 lakh deaths and over 99 lakh patients who have recovered.,
New cases remained under the 25,000-mark for over a week now, significantly lower than the peaks seen in mid-September. One-day fatalities too remained below 300 for the eighth consecutive day.
The slower pace of India’s daily infections and an improved recovery rate have kept active cases in India below the 3-lakh-mark for over a week now. That’s less than 2.5% of the total caseload. India’s active cases had crossed 10 lakh in mid-September. Recoveries, on the other hand, now account for over 96% of total confirmed cases.
Key Figures
- Total number of confirmed coronavirus cases: 1,03,05,788
- Active cases: 2,50,183
- Cured/discharged/migrated: 99,06,387
- Deaths: 1,49,218
- Number of fresh cases in the last 24 hours: 19,079
- One-day recoveries: 22,926
- One-day deaths: 224
All Indian states and union territories will conduct a dry run of its vaccine delivery system and identify potential hurdles. The health ministry has reviewed preparedness and asked state governments to ensure the effectiveness of the program.
Meanwhile, An expert panel set up by India’s drug regulator is expected to recommend granting emergency use authorisation for the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, to be manufactured by Serum Institute as Covishield, in the country. The health ministry, however, has said that the panel’s meeting is still on and a final decision is pending.
Global Update:
The U.S. surpassed 20 million Covid-19 cases, a year after a mysterious pathogen first revealed itself in Wuhan, China.
The pandemic entered 2021 with no signs of slowing down. Global daily deaths reached record highs this week. Countries from Germany to Japan to South Africa ended 2020 with record daily cases. China and Brazil became the latest to report infections of the new, highly transmissible virus strain.
Track all developments around the Covid-19 outbreak in India here.