India reported 24,337 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 333 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Union health ministry data showed on Monday morning, as the country continued to witness a declining trend in average daily infections. This is the eighth straight day that daily infections in the country have stayed below 30,000 and less than 40,000 since the last 21 days continuously. The virus has so far killed 145,810 people in the country and 9,606,111 people have recovered from the disease.
The health ministry has said that with only 351 average daily Covid-19 fatalities reported between December 14-20, India continues to have one of the lowest deaths per million. A week earlier, from December 7-3, 450 average daily Covid-19 deaths were reported. “#IndiaFightsCorona India has one of the lowest deaths/mn population globally (105.4). Focussed measures including targeted testing, early identification, timely isolation & prompt hospitalization & Standard Treatment Protocol have ensured that daily fatalities are under 400,” it tweeted on Monday.
India’s active caseload dropped to 303,639 on Monday and the health ministry has said this is due to the trend of recoveries exceeding new cases and a low number of fatalities per day. It had said on Sunday that 10 states and Union territories account for 66% of the total active cases in the country.
The difference in recoveries and active Covid-19 cases is at 9,302,472 and the recovery rate is 95.53% on Monday. On Sunday, 74.68% of the new recovered cases were concentrated in 10 states and Union territories. Kerala reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries with 4,749 newly recovered cases, 3,119 people recovered in Maharashtra followed by 2,717 in West Bengal on Sunday, according to the health ministry.
On Sunday, 76.62% of the new cases were concentrated in 10 states and Union territories with Kerala reporting the highest daily cases at 6,293. followed by Maharashtra with 3,940 infections.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan has said India may begin vaccinating people against Covid-19 in January and the government’s first priority has been the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. He also said that the Centre has been working with the state governments for the last four months for preparations regarding Covid-19 vaccination in the country.
“For the past four months, the union government has been preparing with the state governments at the state, district, and even at the block level. We have been preparing for the past four months,” the minister told ANI in an exclusive interview.