The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 24.58 crore, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.
It said 18,64,234 and 77,136 beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group received their first and second dose of COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday.
New cases of coronavirus infection in India were recorded below One lakh, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,91,83,121 according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The COVID-19 active caseload is 11,67,952 which now comprises 4 per cent of the total infections.
The recovery rate is 94.77 per cent, the data stated.
A total of 94,052 new infections were registered in a day, while the death count increased to 3,59,676 with 6,148 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Meanwhile, Bihar's massive revision in its Covid deaths figure to over 9,000 has become controversial with the 72 per cent jump raising more questions.
The Nitish Kumar government on Wednesday reported that the number of deaths across the state in the pandemic was 9,429, a dramatic spike that also impacts the Centre's daily Covid death figures.
The Patna High Court had asked for an audit of casualties in the April-May second surge of Covid amid allegations that the Bihar government was hiding the scale of infections and deaths in the state.
Here are the Live updates on coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:
Complementing national efforts led by Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG), a consortium of four city clusters - Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi and Pune - has been established to upscale the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus genomic surveillance.
G7 leaders will agree to expand global Covid vaccine manufacturing to provide at least one billion doses to the world through sharing and financing schemes, Britain said Thursday.
Terming the vaccine wastage figure of Jharkhand by the Centre at 33.95 per cent as "old data", the Hemant Soren government Thursday said it has received permission from the central ministry to rectify the related data and the vaccine wastage was 1.5 per cent in the state.
Anandavalli, 80, is partially paralysed and under the state's palliative care for the last four years. Her only source of income is Rs 1,600, a pension she gets every month, and her daughter is a daily wager.
Treading cautiously even as Covid cases dip, the Karnataka government today extended the lockdown in the state by a week, till June 21, while relaxing some curbs in districts with positivity rates under 15 per cent. Among the districts that will see an easing of curbs is Bengaluru Urban.
For the 11 districts where the positivity rate continues to be high, the current restrictions will continue.
The decision was taken after Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa chaired a review meeting on the pandemic situation in the state along with senior ministers and officials.
Kerala and West Bengal recorded negative wastage of COVID-19 vaccines in May, saving 1.10 lakh and 1.61 lakh doses respectively, while Jharkhand reported maximum wastage of 33.95 per cent, according to government data.
While Kerala reported -6.37 per cent vaccine wastage, West Bengal recorded -5.48 per cent.
Delhi received 28,900 more doses of Covaxin on Wednesday for the 18-44 age group and the stock is enough to cover those eligible for the second dose in the next four days, AAP MLA Atishi said on Thursday.
At present, Delhi has more than 50,110 doses of Covaxin in stock for this category, she said.
There are 1.24 lakh doses of Covishield available for this age group and these can last up to eight days, Atishi said.
Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday said group companies have collectively extended a help of Rs 2,500 crore towards COVID-19 relief across both the waves of the pandemic that started in March 2020.
Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of its cash cow TCS, Mr Chandrasekaran said more than the financial commitments, the work done on the ground by the Tata group companies, like helping build new hospitals and expanding oxygen capacity, has been the focus area.
The lockdown announced in the wake of Covid-19 spread is likely to be extended by another week in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district from June 14, DK district-in-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said on Thursday, news agency PTI reported.
He was talking to reporters after participating in a video conference with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, along with deputy commissioners of Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Mysuru, Mandya, Shivamogga, Belagavi, Chikkamagaluru and Tumakuru districts.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday lauded the Arunachal Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Pema Khandu for its 'commendable job' in achieving remarkable success in combating COVID-19 despite many challenges.
Launching the distribution campaign of Ayush-64 tablet for COVID-19 patients and Ayurveda immunity booster medicine at civil secretariat, the Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs and Ayush said that at the trying time both the centre and state governments coordinated very well and worked towards managing the pandemic.
Delhi today reported 305 new cases of COVID-19, taking the number of total active cases to 4,212 in the city. The national capital also reported 44 deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 24,748.
The recovery rate and the death rate stand at 97.97 per cent and 1.73 per cent, respectively, while the positivity rate has come down to 0.41 per cent.
As many as 1,683 patients have recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the number of total discharged patients in the city to 14,01,473.
Bihar's massive revision in its Covid deaths figure to over 9,000 has become controversial with the 72 per cent jump raising more questions. Because of Bihar's update, India reported 6,148 new deaths today, the highest single-day spike.
The Nitish Kumar government on Wednesday reported that the number of deaths across the state in the pandemic was 9,375 compared to the figure of 5,424 earlier.
The Patna High Court had asked for an audit of casualties in the April-May second surge of Covid amid allegations that the Bihar government was hiding the scale of infections and deaths in the state. Shocking visuals of bodies floating in the river and washing up on the banks near Buxar last month reinforced the opposition's charge.
The Uttarakhand High Court has asked the state government to conduct an audit of the deaths that occurred during the second wave of coronavirus in the state, and also explore the possibility of carrying out door-to-door vaccination in remote hill areas.
Hearing petitions related to the state's handling of the pandemic, Chief Justice R S Chauhan and Justice Alok Verma asked the state government on Wednesday if a district-level task force can be constituted with the help of the social welfare department to cater to people who are unable to get their immunisation due to lack of ID cards.
Assam on Wednesday launched a platform to remotely monitor Covid patients who are in home isolation in the state's Kamrup metro district. NISHTHA Covid Sanchar, which works through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS), has been introduced in the state with support from United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) flagship project that has also been implemented by Jhpiego - a non-profit affiliated with US' Johns Hopkins University.
The platform, launched by Pomi Baruah, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Assam National Health Mission (NHM) yesterday, aims to help authorities provide Covid patients access to right care at the right time.
The positivity rate in Andhra Pradesh has dropped to 8.69 per cent and the number of active infections has declined to 1,03,995, informed a state government official, reported news agency ANI.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Anil Kumar Singhal, Principal Secretary, Health, Medical and Family Welfare, said that the number of Covid tests in the state crossed the two-crore mark.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of seven liquid medical oxygen plants and four Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) systems in seven districts of the state, reported news agency ANI.