India reports 67,597 COVID-19 cases, 1,188 deaths in last 24 hours

India reported 67,597 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total infection tally to 4,23,39,611, according to the data updated by the health ministry on Tuesday.

The active caseload has declined further to 9,94,891 cases, comprising 2.35% of the total infections. This is the first time in 27 days that the active cases fell below 10 lakh.

With 67,597 fresh COVID cases, the daily addition is 19.4% lower than yesterday. The daily positivity rate has dipped from 7.25% to 5.02%, while the weekly positivity rate is now 8.30%.

Also Read: Mumbai reports 1st case of black fungus in months: Do we need to worry?

A total of 1,70,21,72,615 COVID vaccine doses have been administered so far. The nation’s mass vaccination campaign was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 16 last year.

With 1,188 more people succumbing to the disease, the death toll is pushed to 5,04,062.

Cases are on a decline in several states in India, including Karnataka, West Bengal, and Delhi. The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it would resume physical hearings in a hybrid model from next week.

Meanwhile, omicron is now the dominant variant behind COVID-19 cases in the country, the government said in January.

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.

Also Read: NeoCoV coronavirus: What WHO has to say about the new virus

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, 2021, and three crore on June 23.

(With PTI inputs)