India sees 1,096 new coronavirus infections reported in a day, which takes the nation’s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,30,28,131. Meanwhile, there has been a dip when it comes to active cases. As per the Union Health Ministry data, which was updated on Sunday, the number now stands at 13,013,

The death toll rose to 5,21,345 with 81 new fatalities, as per the data updated at 8 AM.

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The active cases comprise 0.03% of total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate is still at 98.76%, the ministry also said. There has been a recorded reduction of 432 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload, within a span of 24 hours.

India’s COVID-19 tally had surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crores on May 4 and three crores on June 23 last year.

However, with the situation improving the nation is beginning a return to normalcy. International flights are now operational and states like Maharashtra are doing away with COVID protocols. 

The nation has successfully vaccinated a large part of its population, including launching an effective booster dose drive for those who need the additional shot. Now, with the BA.2. subvariant of the omicron virus, making its presence felt elsewhere in the world, India needs to remain on alert. 

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China has already witnessed its worst COVID spike since the first wave peak due to this new variant pushing up numbers. The US, too, has introduced a precautionary fourth dose to fight the infection. 

As the world continues to battle COVID, Russia has made an advancement by registering the first nasal COVID booster vaccine. The Sputnik V can be administered intranasally, which gives it a better chance to fight the infection in our airways. For now, India has Sputnik V vaccines that can be injected into the bloodstream but, has not obtained the new version yet.