India reports 20,279 new Covid cases in last 24 hours

NEW DELHI: With a slight drop, India reported 20,279 new cases of Covid after 3,83,657 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Sunday.

India on Saturday reported 21,411 new Covid cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. According to the Health Ministry, 87.25 crore Covid tests have been conducted in the country so far.

With the current rate of Covid active cases at 0.35 per cent, India's active caseload currently stands at 1,52,200, while its daily positivity rate currently and weekly positivity rate stand at 5.29 per cent and 4.46 per cent, respectively.

The Ministry, via its official report, also informed that the country has also seen 18,143 recoveries in the last 24 hours which took the total recoveries in India to 4,32,10,522, with the current recovery rate at 98.45 per cent.

As per the ministry, out of the total of 201.99 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far, 28,83,489 doses were administered under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive in the last 24 hours.

According to the government data, more than 7.98 crore balance and unutilized vaccine doses are still available with the States and Union Territories.

The Central Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid vaccination throughout the country.

The nationwide Covid vaccination started on January 16, 2021. The new phase of universalization of Covid vaccination commenced on June 21, 2021.

The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them with Covid Vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the Covid vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.