The country's cumulative COVID-19 recoveries have surpassed two crore mark with 3.53 lakh patients recuperating in a day. This is the fourth time in the last five days that recoveries have outnumbered daily cases.
More than 18 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country till Friday, according to the Health Ministry.
India made the soft launch of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, making it the first foreign-made shot to be used in the country. The single-dose variant Sputnik Light will cost ₹ 995.40 including tax for a shot, according to Dr Reddy's Laboratories, which is manufacturing the vaccine in India.
Maharashtra on Friday reported under 40,000 cases for the first time since March 31. The 39,923 new COVID-19 cases reported yesterday has pushed the western state's caseload to 53.09 lakh. Nearly 80,000 people have died due to virus-related complications in the state since the pandemic began.
Situation in neighbouring Goa, however, remains grim with reports of crematoriums being overwhelmed with bodies being reported from the coastal state. One of the oldest crematoriums in Goa, located in Margao city, had to construct four additional platforms and dedicate three of its existing ones to cater to people who died of COVID-19.
West Bengal on Friday registered its highest single-day spike of 20,846 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 10,94,802. The number of fatalities in the state rose to 12,993 after 136 more people, including five eminent doctors, died due to the infection, the state health bulletin said.
Sikkim has called a lockdown from Monday for a week amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It is the third state in the north-east, after Mizoram and Nagaland, to impose a lockdown.
Twelve states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, have more than one lakh active COVID-19 cases, according to the government.
The COVID-19 situation in India remains hugely concerning, with several states continuing to see a worrying number of cases, hospitalisations and deaths, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday, warning that the pandemic's second year will be "far more deadly" than the first for the world.
India's Covid tally crossed the 10 million mark on December 19 and in under six months, it has doubled, surpassing the grim milestone of 20 million cases on May 4.
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