India recorded a single-day rise of 45,892 new COVID-19 cases, taking its infection tally to 3,07,09,557, while the count of active cases increased slightly to 4,60,704 after being on a consistent downward trend for nearly 55 days, according to the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.
The death count has climbed to 4,05,028 with 817 new fatalities being reported.
The number of active cases comprises 1.50 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.18 per cent, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.
An increase of 784 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, it showed.
Also, 18,93,800 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country on Wednesday, taking the total number of such examinations so far to 42,52,25,897, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.42 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 17 consecutive days, the ministry said.
The weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.37 per cent, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,98,43,825, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.32 per cent, the data stated.
Meanwhile, more than four million people have now died of Covid-19 infections, the WHO said on Wednesday, as many richer nations prepared to loosen restrictions even as countries in Asia battle surging infections.
Indonesia has become a global hotspot, with hospitals having to turn away patients, authorities forced to import oxygen supplies and a record 1,040 deaths reported on Wednesday.
"The world is at a perilous point in this pandemic," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, calling the four-million figure an underestimate of the true figure.
Here are the highlights on coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:
Eighty per cent of COVID-19 cases in India are reported from 90 districts, of which 14 are in the northeastern states, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday and underlined that "the second wave is not yet over and we should not let our guard down".
Highlighting specific challenges linked to the northeastern states, Joint Secretary in the Union Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal, said the Indian government has supported these states by following a "proactive, preemptive and a graded approach" to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
No vaccination at govt and BMC-run centres tomorrow due to lack of vaccine supply. The govt and BMC run centers to be shut in the city: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
- ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2021
Madhya Pradesh on Thursday reported 26 fresh COVID-19 cases, which pushed its infection tally to 7,90,096, health officials said, according to news agency PTI. The state's fatality count reached 9,023 with four deaths recorded in the past 24 hours. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 416.
A total of 47 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery count in Madhya Pradesh to 7,80,657, they said. Bhopal and Indore reported 10 and five new cases respectively. With this, the caseload in Indore reached 1,52,902, while that in Bhopal rose to 1,23,203.
Karnataka logged 2,530 new cases of COVID-19 and 62 deaths, pushing the total number of infections to 28,64,868 and death count to 35,663, the health department said on Thursday, reported news agency PTI. The day also saw 3,344 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries to 27,90,453. Active cases in the state now stood at 38,729.
Bengaluru Urban recorded 514 new cases, as the city saw 753 discharges and 9 deaths. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 1.60%, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 2.45%.
Telangana on Thursday recorded 731 fresh coronavirus cases taking the tally to over 6.29
47% population administered with 1st dose. Preparations are being made for a possible third wave. If we manage to administer the 2nd dose to 30-40%, population, COVID threat can be reduced: Dr Rajesh Dere, Dean of BKC Jumbo Covid Centre, Mumbai#Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/gB5eeKaJ3c
- ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2021
Organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Thursday agreed to hold the Games without spectators, after Japan declared a coronavirus state of emergency for the capital that will run throughout the event, reported news agency Reuters. The widely expected move was made following talks between the government, Tokyo organisers and Olympic and paralympic representatives. It was "regrettable" that the Games were going to be held in a limited format, Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto told a briefing, adding her apologies to those who had bought tickets. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said it was essential to prevent Tokyo, where the highly infectious Delta COVID-19 variant was spreading, from becoming the source of another wave of infections.
The Covid tally in Rajasthan reached 9,52,956 with 69 fresh cases, while the death count stood at 8,942 as no new fatality was reported in the state, according to a health bulletin, reported news agency PTI. Of the fresh cases, a maximum of 15 cases were reported from Jaipur and 12 from Alwar, among others. As many as 9,43,190 people have recovered from the infection, while there are 824 active cases in the state.
Manipur reports 839 new #COVID cases, 634 recoveries and 12 deaths in the last 24 hours
- ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2021
Active cases: 6,727
Total recoveries: 67,212
Death toll: 1,241 pic.twitter.com/9G9iKelW45
Mumbai reports 540 new positive cases, 628 recoveries, and 13 deaths in the last 24 hours. Recovery rate at 96%, active cases at 7,714 pic.twitter.com/jXxOEGq42M
- ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2021
Covid cases are rising rapidly in the US as the highly contagious Delta variant dominates and vaccinations stagnate, data showed Wednesday. The seven-day-average of new cases was 13,859 as of July 6, up 21% compared to two weeks earlier, according to the CDC. Read here.
Vaccine shortage hits Madhya Pradesh's vaccination drive. NDTV's Anurag Dwary reports#COVID19 pic.twitter.com/qAk2oFk7BN
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 8, 2021
Crowded hill stations spark fear of #COVID19 surge. Visuals from Uttarakhand's Kempty Falls pic.twitter.com/qimCkoY6Ob
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 8, 2021
Delhi Chief Minister @ArvindKejriwal inaugurates the #COVID19 Whole Genome Sequencing facility at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/EHkk4pTTSk
- NDTV (@ndtv) July 8, 2021
They hope to get approvals by 2021-end after early-stage results showed the vaccine produces a robust immune response.The Indian arm of the studies will enroll roughly 3,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 55 years, according to India's clinical trial registry. The assessment is expected to run for a year and the first enrollment in India is shown to have been made on Tuesday.
Sikkim reported 222 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and one more death, as per the state Health Department bulletin, reported news agency PTI. East Sikkim district registered the highest 85 new cases, followed by 79 in West Sikkim, 51 in South Sikkim and seven in North Sikkim, it said. There are 2,144 active cases in the state at present, it added.
Mizoram logged 548 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest single-day spike in July so far, raising the coronavirus tally to 22,703, a senior official said, according to news agency PTI. The death count climbed to 101 as two more people succumbed to the virus, he said. The state now has 3,959 active cases, while 18,643 people have recovered from the disease. The new infections include 88 children and four Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, the official said. Mizoram has thus far tested 5,13,712 samples for COVID-19, including 3,245 since Wednesday. Meanwhile, State Immunisation Officer Lalzawmi said over 5.5 lakh people have been inoculated in the state till date.
Russia recorded 24,818 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 5,707,452 the federal response center said on Thursday, according to news agency ANI. "Over the past day, 24,818 COVID-19 cases were confirmed across 85 Russian regions, including 2,954 cases (11.9%) without clinical symptoms," the statement said, adding the rate of increase fell to 0.44%.
Moscow confirmed 6,040 daily infections. The Russian capital was followed by the Moscow region with 2,581 cases and St. Petersburg with 1,937 cases. The response center reported a new record of 734 fatalities linked to the coronavirus, raising the country's death count to 140,775. In the same 24 hours, 21,336 COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals across the country, bringing the total to 5,143,225.
Odisha's COVID-19 tally soared to 9,32,330 on Thursday as 2,542 more people tested positive for the infection, while 57 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death count to 4,415, a health official said, according to news agency PTI. Though there has been a decline in fresh cases, daily coronavirus fatalities continued to remain above the 50-mark since July 5. The Health Department, however, clarified that fresh fatality numbers include deaths caused earlier which are now being added to the toll after an audit. The state now has 27,580 active cases, while 9,00,282 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 2,920 in the last 24 hours. As many as 2,542 new cases were reported in quarantine centres, while 1,084 fresh infections were detected during contact tracing. Fifty-three coronavirus patients have died due to comorbidities so far. The state has thus far tested over 1.43 crore samples for COVID-19, including 72,645 on Wednesday, while the positivity rate stands at 6.5%.
Arunachal Pradesh reported 404 fresh cases of COVID-19, raising the tally to 38,283, a senior
health department official said on Thursday, according to news agency PTI. The death count in the frontier state mounted to 184 as three more persons succumbed to the virus, he said. The state now has 3,363 active cases, while 34,736 people have recovered from the disease so far, State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Lobsang Jampa said. The recovery rate and positivity rate stood at 90.73% and 7.4%, respectively, the official said. Altogether, 8,00,789 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in the state, including 5,458 since Wednesday, Mr Jampa said. Meanwhile, State Immunisation Officer Dimong Padung said a total of 6,74,729 people have been vaccinated in Arunachal Pradesh thus far.
Four million people have now lost their lives as a result of #COVID19.
- António Guterres (@antonioguterres) July 8, 2021
This painful milestone is a reminder of the long way we still have to go to defeat the pandemic.
We must move faster - with more vaccines, more equity and more solidarity.