India reports 226 new Covid cases in last 24 hrs

NEW DELHI: India reported 226 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours with a daily positivity rate of 0.12 per cent, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday. India on Friday recorded 243 new cases of Coronavirus.

With this, active cases stood at 3,653, taking the total number of cases reported in the country so far since the pandemic hit in 2020 to 4,46,78,384.

According to the health ministry, a total of 4,41,44,029 people have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic, of which 179 recoveries were registered in the last 24 hours.

The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections and the recovery rate stands at 98.8 per cent. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.12 per cent while the weekly positivity was at 0.15 per cent, the ministry said. The death toll stood at 5,30,702.

The country conducted 1,87,983 tests in the last 24 hours and so far a total of 91.07 crore tests have been done. Under the nationwide vaccination drive, more than 220.10 crore vaccine doses have been administered to eligible people across the country.

In the last 24 hours, around 91,732 doses were administered. 220.10 crore Total Vaccine doses (95.13 cr Second Dose and 22.40 cr Precaution Dose) have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

Amid the global surge of infection from the Covid virus, all international passengers travelling from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand to India will have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR tests before departure and upload a report on the Air Suvidha portal from January 1, 2023, said Union Health Ministry sources on Thursday.

The Union Health Ministry sources on Wednesday also informed that the next 40 days will be crucial as India may see a surge of Covid cases in mid of January.

The sources said the assessment had been made after analysing the previous trends of the Covid surge the country experienced. As there have been reports of a surge in Covid cases in some countries, the operational readiness of health facilities is being reviewed in all States and Union Territories in case of another wave.

A recent surge has been observed in Covid cases across the world, because of BF.7 variant which is believed to be the major factor behind the surge including in countries like China and the US.