India Records 1.68 Lakh New Covid Cases, 6.4% Lower Than Yesterday

The daily positivity rate came down to 10.64 per cent today from 13.29 per cent yesterday. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 8.85 per cent. On Monday, the country had recorded 1.79 lakh Covid cases.

The number of active cases at present stands at 8,21,446, which is 2.29 per cent of the total cases. The overall Covid case tally has increased to 3,58,75,790 while the death count rose to 4,84,213 in India.

At least 69,959 recoveries in the last 24 hours took the total number of recoveries to 3,45,70,131. The recovery rate in India is currently at 96.36 per cent.

India has administered 152.89 crore vaccine doses till now. The country began administering a "precautionary" dose against the infection from Monday. More than 9 lakh healthcare and frontline workers and 60-plus citizens with comorbidities received their third Covid jab on the first day, the Health Ministry said.

Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit states by the Covid pandemic, reported 33,470 new COVID-19 cases, which included 1,247 cases of Omicron variant, and eight deaths on Monday. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic has started which will peak by January-end.

India has conducted 69.31 crore Covid tests till now, of which 15,79,928 were tested yesterday, the Ministry of Health said.

In a new advisory, the government's top medical body said contacts of COVID-19 patients, unless identified as high-risk, don't need to be tested. It said asymptomatic individuals in community settings, patients who stand discharged as per home isolation guidelines, also patients discharged from a COVID-19 facility and individuals undertaking inter-state domestic travel need not be tested.

Delhi reported 19,166 cases on Monday -- every fourth person getting tested for Covid in the city is being found positive. The positivity rate in the national capital stood at 25 per cent, the highest since May 5. New restrictions have been imposed on dining out and restaurants amid rising cases.

India is witnessing a hospitalisation rate of 5-10 per cent in the third Covid wave, the government has said, adding that the situation is "dynamic and evolving and the need of hospital care may change rapidly". 

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday called on states and Union territories to ensure there is no lapse in the preparation to battle Covid surge and stressed on maintaining a holistic synergy for seamless management of the pandemic.