With 861 fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 4,30,36,132 while the death count due to the viral disease has gone up to 5,21,691 with 6 more fatalities, the Union health ministry said on Monday.
However, the number of active cases of the infection has further declined to 11,058.
The active cases account for 0.03 per cent of the total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent.
A reduction of 74 cases was recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.25 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was 0.23 per cent, according to the ministry. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 4,25,02,454, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus cases in India:
Over 26,700 precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered in the 18-59 years age-group on the second day, taking the cumulative doses given in this age group to 36,428 so far, the Union health ministry said on Monday.
India had on Sunday began administering the precaution doses to all aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres.
All those above the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose are eligible for the precaution dose.
More than 14 lakh (14,01,647) vaccine doses have been administered till 7 pm on Monday, taking the cumulative number of doses to over 185.88 crore doses.
Jammu and Kashmir did not record any fresh COVID-19 cases or deaths on Monday, officials said.
There are 79 active COVID-19 cases in the union territory. So far, 4,49,060 people have recovered from the viral disease, the officials said.
There are 51 confirmed mucormycosis (black fungus) cases in Jammu and Kashmir. No fresh case has been reported since last evening, they said.
Gujarat reported 35 COVID-19 cases on Monday, its highest single-day addition in nearly a month, increasing the tally to 12,24,082, while the toll stood unchanged at 10,942, a state health department official said.
On March 13, the state had witnessed 37 cases, the official pointed out.
So far, 12,12,992 people have been discharged post recovery, including 16 during the day, leaving the state with an active tally of 148, he said.
The Kerala government on Monday said it will not be giving daily COVID-19 case updates from now on in view of the decrease in number of infections in the state.
"The COVID-19 updates will no longer be available in view of the decrease in the number of infections," the state government said.
On Sunday, the southern state had reported 223 infections and five deaths which took the total caseload to 65,35,971 and the number of fatalities to 68,365.
Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala, Binoy Viswam has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and urged him to reconsider the decision to provide booster doses to those aged above 18 years at a cost of around 375 rupees.
He said that the nationwide COVID vaccination drive can only be justified by the free availability of vaccines in public healthcare institutions that can be accessed by millions of people who may not be able to afford private vaccination.
Shanghai, Chinas most populous city, reported nearly 25,000 locally transmitted COVID-19 infections on Sunday.
In many countries, as restrictions lift and freedoms are restored, theres a general feeling that the pandemic is over. There is, however, still the significant concern that a dangerous new variant could emerge.
Goa failed to begin the exercise of administering precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccines from Sunday due to unavailability of jabs at some private vaccination centres and as the medical staff of such facilities is yet to be trained for the purpose, an official said.
China is battling its biggest spike in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with millions under lockdown and the healthcare system feeling the pressure.
That is placing a strain on China's already under-pressure medical system, as the highly transmissible Omicron variant rapidly moves through the population.