India registered 2,71,202 new Covid infections in a day - its highest daily count in eight months - in the last 24 hours. The overall Covid caseload surged to 3.71 crore on Sunday, which included 7,743 Omicron variant cases, according to the latest data by the Union Health Ministry on coronavirus.
With 1,702 cases of new variant of coronavirus in the past day, India saw a rise of 28.17 per cent in its Omicron tally. In the meantime, India on Sunday marked the first anniversary of the nationwide vaccination drive against Covid-19, with over 156.76 cr doses administered till date.
Lauding India's Covid-19 vaccination drive as it completes a year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it has added great strength to the fight against the pandemic and has resulted in saving lives and protecting livelihoods.
When the pandemic first struck, not much was known about the virus. However, our scientists and innovators immersed themselves in developing vaccines, he noted. India feels proud that our nation has been able to contribute to fighting the pandemic through vaccines, Modi tweeted.
"It's the largest vaccination drive in the world. We've administered over 156 cr doses in a year and were able to provide vaccines to over 100 countries in line with our philosophy of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'," said ICMR Chief Dr Balram Bhargava. He hoped that even as the Covid cases are on increase, the severity will be less because of vaccination.
The active Covid cases now comprise 4.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.51 per cent. An increase of 1,32,557 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry data updated this morning.
The daily positivity rate saw a marginal improvement from 16.66 per cent to 16.28 per cent while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 13.69 per cent. The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive has exceeded 156.76 crore, the Ministry said.
The 314 new fatalities include 106 from Kerala and 39 from West Bengal. Of the total deaths reported so far in the country, 1,41,779 are from Maharashtra, 50,674 from Kerala, 38,418 from Karnataka, 36,967 from Tamil Nadu, 25,335 from Delhi, 22,953 from Uttar Pradesh and 20,052 from West Bengal.
Covid cases have been on the rise since late last year due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant, first identified in Botswana and South Africa. The total number of Covid-19 registered worldwide since the start of the pandemic topped 300 million, according to an AFP count based on official figures.