Covid Positivity Rate Drops From 19.5% To 15.8%; 2.51 Lakh New Cases

The active now comprises 5.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.60 per cent. 400 districts have logged over 10 per cent positivity rate in the week ending January 26.

India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 164.35 crore doses. Ninety five per cent of India's eligible adult population has been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine while 74 per cent are fully inoculated.

As many as 627 people have died of Covid during the past 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry. At least 60 per cent of the patients who died during the current wave of Covid pandemic were either partially or fully unvaccinated.

The Omicron variant of Coronavirus is now the dominant variant in India. The government on Thursday also said that there are early indications of a plateau in the number of cases, with just the top 10 states contributing to 77 per cent of total active cases in the country.

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 25,425 new cases, a drop of more than 10,000 compared to the previous day, and 42 deaths, the state health officials said. The new cases included 72 Omicron infections. Mumbai's positivity rate has fallen to 3.2% as the city reported 1,384 new cases yesterday.

Delhi saw a significant 42 per cent drop in fresh cases on Thursday. The national capital logged 4,291 cases today, down from 7,498 yesterday. The number of deaths due to the viral infection was slightly higher at 34, up from 29 yesterday. The positivity rate dipped to 9.56 per cent, down from 10.59 per cent.

In the south, Kerala logged 51,739 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday taking the caseload to 58,26,596, while the number of virus-related death rose to 52,343 with 68 COVID-19-related deaths being registered. Omicron found in 94 per cent of positive samples in Kerala, state Health Minister Veena George has said.

Neighbouring Tamil Nadu, meanwhile, withdrew restrictions such as night curfew and Sunday lockdown as coronavirus cases declined in the state. The state government also allowed reopening of schools and colleges from February 1.

Covishield and Covaxin have been cleared by India's drugs regulator for sale in the market, sources have said. However, this doesn't mean the two COVID-19 vaccines will be available at shops soon though people would be able to buy them from hospitals and clinics, sources have said. Key details are awaited from the government, they said.

The world recorded more than two million daily coronavirus cases on average between January 1 and 7 with figures doubling in 10 days, news agency AFP reported. The virus has killed over 5.4 million people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.