India recorded 1,27,952 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 21,442 or 14% fewer than yesterday, data from the Union Health Ministry confirmed on Saturday. India’s total infection tally has now reached 4,20,80,664. 

India’s positivity rate has declined from 9.2% yesterday to 7.98%, as the omicron variant-fuelled third wave continues to show signs of easing up. 

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Active cases in the country have declined by 1,03,921 and now stand at 13,31,648, the ministry said in its daily bulletin. Active cases comprise 3.16% of the total caseload. 

2,30,814 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery tally to 4,02,47,902. The national recovery rate has improved to 95.64%. 

The ministry said that 1,059 coronavirus-related fatalities were recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 5,01,114. The national mortality rate stands at 1.19%. 

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Experts believe that India has seen the worst of the third wave COVID-19 pandemic. While genome sequencing is not possible for all samples to get a more accurate figure on the propotion of omicron cases in the country, the new highly-transmissible variant is the dominant strain of coronavirus in the country. 

While the virus spread at an alarming rate, it has not caused severe disease in patients, thus not overloading the health infrastructure of the country. This is largely due to the successful vaccination campaign conducted across the country. 

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As of Saturday, India’s cumulative vaccination tally stands at 1,68,98,17,199, after 47,53,081 doses were administered in the last 24 hours. 

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crores on May 4 and three crores on June 23.