India recorded 44,059 fresh Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours registering 2.5 per cent drop from fresh cases recorded on Sunday. The new cases take the total tally to over 9.13 million, which includes 511 deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. The number of active cases remain way below the 4.5 lakh-mark. On Monday, the number of active cases in India stood at 4,43,486 which is only 4.85 per cent of the total tally.

On Sunday, there were 45,209 fresh infections and 501 deaths.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday will hold a video-conference with the chief ministers of the state as Covid-19 has resurfaced in a few states including, Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh. Night curfews, short-term lockdowns have come back in many cities as well.

The Covid-19 situation in Delhi has worsened as among the over 500 national daily toll, Delhi is contributing more than 100.

The Centre has decided to depute high-level teams to Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh. Similar teams were sent to Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Manipur, and Chhattisgarh earlier.

Expressing hope, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said Covid-19 will soon be a past episode of the 21st century. “Fewer and fewer people infected are dying. We will have vaccines available very soon and the cases will significantly go down in the next few months,” he said.

“The rapidness with which we have been able to create vaccines will have a cascading effect on new technologies that will help us all in the near future in faster drug discoveries, lowering the cost and making it more affordable for poorer sections of our population. The process that used to take 10 years, now produces vaccines almost in 10 months — developed, tested, and soon will be available in the market,” he added.