India’s positivity rate dips to 15.5% from 20.7%
Finally breaking a five-day streak of reporting over three lakh daily Covid cases, India today recorded 2,55,874 new coronavirus cases, 16.39 per cent lower than yesterday’s 3.06 lakh figure.
The new Covid cases reported today took the total infection tally in India – the second worst-hit country after the US – to almost 3.98 crore, according to Union Health Ministry data.
The active cases in India now comprise 5.62 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate marginally increased to 93.15 per cent. The active cases presently stand at 22,36,842.
The daily positivity rate, which is the share of coronavirus tests that return positive — considered to be a key marker of the pandemic’s status — has dropped to 15.52 per cent from yesterday’s 20.75 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 17.17 per cent.
The country also added 614 fresh fatalities in the past 24 hours, taking the Covid-related death count since the start of the pandemic to 4,90,462.
India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 162.92 crore dose. At least 72 per cent of India’s adult population is fully vaccinated whereas at least 52 per cent of children in the 15-18 years old age group have been inoculated with their first dose. However, with vaccines unavailable to children under the age of 15, that age group has been barred from attending tomorrow’s Republic Day parade.