India reports 2,827 new Covid cases, 24 deaths in last 24 hours

NEW DELHI: India's Covid tally remained below 3000-mark for the third consecutive day, as the country reported 2,827 new Covid cases, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday. The country's active caseload currently stands at 19,067, which now constitutes 0.04 per cent of India's total positive cases.

The daily positivity rate is at 0.60 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate of Covid in India is at 0.72 per cent. As many as 3,230 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients, since the beginning of the pandemic, to 4,25,70,165.

The national Covid recovery rate was recorded as 98.74 per cent, the ministry said. The death toll climbed to 5,24,181 with 24 fresh fatalities.

A total of 4,71,276 Covid tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tests in the country to over 84.24 crore (84,24,58,167). India's Covid vaccination coverage has exceeded 190.83 crore (1,90,83,96,788) as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 2,38,04,578 sessions.

Covid vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on March 16, 2022. So far, more than 3.10 Cr (3,10,92,227) adolescents have been administered with the first dose of the Covid vaccine. Similarly, the Covid precaution dose administration for the age group 18-59 years also started from April 10, 2022, onwards. The Central Government has so far provided over 1,93,53,58,865 vaccine doses to States and UTs through free of cost channels and through the direct state procurement category.

Meanwhile, Central Government has decided to reduce the gap between the second dose and booster dose of the Covid vaccine for persons travelling abroad to a minimum of 90 days, sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to participate in the Second Global Covid Virtual Summit on May 12 at the invitation of US President Joe Biden.

The Summit intends to galvanize new actions to address the continued challenges of the Covid pandemic and build a stronger global health security architecture.