India on Tuesday registered a major fall in the daily Covid-19 cases as fresh infections reported in the last 24 hours came down to 25,166. The last time there were cases close to this number was last year December 22, when around 24,000 cases were reported.
Although the country recorded as low as 10,500 cases in February this year, before the devastating second wave kicked in, the figure released by the government on Tuesday is the lowest recorded in 154 days.
A total of 437 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours pushing the toll to 4,32,079, according to the Covid bulletin released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
India's recovery rate from the Covid infection currently stands at 97.51 per cent, the highest since March 2020. As several other countries in the West, South-East and the Middle East again see surge in cases, there are talks to begin testing below the 19-year-age group.
Decline in active cases
The active caseload also registered a decline of 12,101 on Tuesday and the total caseload stands at 3,69,846, the lowest in the last 146 days. The active caseloads constitute 1.15 per cent of total cases, the lowest since March 2020, as per the bulletin released by the health ministry.
The health ministry data mentioned that a total 36,830 patients were discharged from the hospitals and health centers in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cured to 3,14,48,754 to the date in India.
The weekly positivity rate remains below 3 per cent for the last 53 days and currently stands at 1.98 per cent. The daily positivity rate continued to remain below 3 per cent for the past 22 continuous days and currently stands at 1.61 per cent.
Meanwhile, India achieved the highest-ever single-day vaccination mark with the administration of more than 88.13 lakh vaccine doses in the last 24 hours. This is the highest ever vaccination achieved in a single day since the start of the vaccination drive. At least three of the variants are currently active in India, of the nearly 20 active worldwide.
India's cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage stands at 55,47,30,609. And in the last 24 hours, a total of 62,12,108 people were vaccinated, said the health bulletin.
Global caseload tops 207.7 million
The global coronavirus caseload has topped 207.7 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 4.37 million, with the UK recording 28,438 cases, while India logged in 24,166 fresh cases on Tuesday.
In its latest update, the Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload, death toll and vaccination tally stood at 207,798,567, 4,370,447 and 4,703,578,751, respectively.
The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 36,884,777 and 622,292, respectively, according to the CSSE. In terms of infections, India follows in second place with 32,225,513 cases.
The other worst countries with over 3 million cases are Brazil (20,378,570), Russia (6,531,585), France (6,476,855), the UK (6,325,515), Turkey (6,096,786), Argentina (5,088,271), Colombia (4,870,922), Spain (4,719,266), Italy (4,444,338), Iran (4,467,015), Indonesia (3,871,738), Germany (3,831,827) and Mexico (3,101,266), the CSSE figures showed.
In terms of deaths, Brazil comes second with 569,492 fatalities. Nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are India (431,642), Mexico (248,167), Peru (197,393), Russia (168,384), the UK (131,296), Italy (128,456), Colombia (123,580), Indonesia (118,833), France (112,787) and Argentina (109,105).
UK records 28,438 coronavirus cases
Another 28,438 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 6,295,613, according to official figures released on Monday.
The country also reported another 26 coronavirus-related deaths. The total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Britain now stands at 130,979. These figures only include the deaths of people who died within 28 days of their first positive test, Xinhua reported.
Nearly 90 per cent of the adults in Britain have received a Covid-19 vaccine, while 77 per cent have had the second jab, according to the latest figures.
Number of Covid patients hospitalized in France exceeds 10K again
The number of Covid-19 patients in hospital in France passed the 10,000-mark on Monday for the first time since June, as more restrictive measures were introduced in a bid to halt the spread of the virus.
As of Monday, 10,151 people were hospitalized with Covid-19, according to French health authorities. The last time over 10,000 people were hospitalized with the virus in France was on June 22, xinhua news agency reported.
A significant number of these hospitalizations were concentrated in Bouches-du-Rhone in the south of the country, in the Paris region and in French overseas territories including Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Reunion. The number of patients in intensive care also increased to 1,908, compared with 1,852 on Sunday.
Health Pass made mandatory
From Monday, a "health pass" will be required in order to enter shopping malls with a surface area of more than 20,000 square meters in regions where the COVID-19 incidence rate is higher than 200 cases per 100,000 citizens per week. Most of these shopping malls are located in the southern half of France and in the Paris region.
The health pass, which proves its holder has had two doses of a vaccine, or has recently recovered from COVID-19 or tested negative for the disease, has already been compulsory for gatherings of more than 50 people in leisure and cultural centers (such as cinemas and museums) since July 21. On August 9, it became a requirement in order to enter cafes, bars and restaurants, gyms, and even hospitals except for emergencies.
Since August, France has seen its seven-day average of new infections rising to over 20,000 from around 2,000 at the end of June.
(With inputs from IANS)
