India on Saturday morning reported 84,332 new COVID-19 cases, lowest in 70 days, and 4,002 deaths in the last 24 hours. As per the latest health ministry update, 24,96,00,304 people have been vaccinated so far in the country, with 34,33,763 taking the jab in the last 24 hours. The total active cases have dropped by 40,981 and now stands at 10,80,690.
The country saw 1,21,311 recoveries during past one-day period with 2,79,11,384 people having recovered in total. The recovery rate has increased to 95.07 per cent, a government release pointed out.
The country's weekly positivity rate is currently at 4.94 per cent while the daily positivity rate is 4.39 per cent, remaining below the 10 per cent mark for 19 consecutive days.
Tamil Nadu is among the bottom five states in terms of vaccinating its population against coronavirus. So far, the state has inoculated only nine per cent of its seven-crore population with the first dose of the vaccine. This has put the state right at the bottom of the list of states with low vaccination percentage along with UP, Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Here are the live updates on coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was fined $100 Saturday for violating Covid-19 containment measures in Sao Paulo state by failing to wear a face mask and provoking huge crowds at a motorcycle rally for supporters.
A Group of Seven plan to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries lacks ambition, is far too slow and shows Western leaders are not yet on top of tackling the worst public health crisis in a century, campaigners said on Friday.
Health authorities in eastern France are conducting "targeted vaccinations" over the weekend after four cases of the highly transmissible Covid-19 Delta variant, first detected in India, were confirmed in the Rhine School of Arts in Strasbourg. The school has been shut, more than 100 people tested and authorities have set aside some 200 vaccine doses for students and restaurant and bar workers in the neighbourhoods thought to be affected, according to regional health authorities.
Indicating a massive undercounting in COVID-19 deaths in Madhya Pradesh, the number of reported deaths in the state during the second wave was over three times more than the average number of deaths reported during these months in pre-Covid times.
Delhi recorded 213 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the lowest in more than three months, bringing the overall caseload to 14,30,884. The national capital also recorded 28 deaths due to COVID-19 which took the total death count to 24,800.
Tax on medicines, some hospital equipment and other items needed in the fight against COVID-19 has been reduced by the Goods and Services Tax Council. The tax cut is based on recommendations by a Group of Ministers amid the pandemic.
COVID-19 Updates: Arunachal Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rose to 30,850 as 358 more people tested positive for the infection while five new fatalities pushed the coronavirus death count to 138, a senior health official said on Saturday, according to news agency PTI. The fresh coronavirus deaths were reported from Changlang, Namsai, Tawang and East Siang districts and all the patients were undergoing treatment at various health facilities, State Surveillance officer Dr Lobsang Jampa said.
Kurung Kumey district recorded the highest number of fresh infections at 59 followed by the Capital Complex region (54), Changlang (43), Namsai (30), West Kameng (24), Longding (23), East Kameng (22), Lohit (19) and Papumpare at 14.
The COVID positivity rate has dropped to 1.6 per cent, while recovery rate has crossed 92 per cent in Jammu district, said Deputy Commissioner Anshul Garg on Friday, reported news agency ANI.
During the weekly press briefing, the Deputy Commissioner said that recoveries continue to outnumber the daily new cases and the decreasing trend in positive cases continues. "As recovery rate is better than rate of new active cases, the bed occupancy has also reduced."
Dehradun reported 21 new cases of Black Fungus and six deaths on July 10, informed the state Health Department, reported news agency ANI.
With this, the total number of Black Fungus patients in Dehradun district has gone up to 319, while the cumulative black fungus cases in Uttarakhand now stand at 356 with 56 deaths.
At least 220 patients are undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Rishikesh. So far 31 patients with Black Fungus infections have recovered.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed the need for cooperation and transparency over the origins of COVID-19 in a call with Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on Friday and raised other contentious topics.