India logs 20,139 new COVID-19 cases, 19 per cent higher than yesterday

According to the Union Health Ministry and Family Welfare, India reported 20,139 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, 19 per cent higher than yesterday and an increase of 3233 infections from Wednesday. The country registered 16,905 cases on Wednesday. The Union Health Ministry of India has confirmed 16,482 recoveries pushing the total recoveries to 4,30,28,356 crore.

In the last 24 hours, India also reported 38 deaths taking the country’s toll to 5,25,557 lakh. At the same time, the active caseload stood at 1,36,076. Although on July 13, there were 1,32,457 active cases of Covid-19.

The active cases comprise 0.31 per cent of the total infections. Furthermore, the current recovery rate in the country stands at 98.49 per cent, the daily positivity rate at 5.10 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.37 per cent.

The health ministry on Thursday said that as many as 3,94,774 tests were conducted on Wednesday, taking the total cumulative tests undertaken so far in the country to 86.81 crores.

Meanwhile, the national capital, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, has seen a massive spike in COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Delhi reported 490 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Tamil Nadu reported 2,269 new cases in the previous 24 hours. However, Maharashtra reported 2,575 new cases of COVID-19, whereas Mumbai saw 383 COVID-19 cases.

New Sub-Variant of COVID-19 Detected in India

Earlier on July 6, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed new Covid-19 sub-variant BA.2.75 of the Omicron variant had been detected in India. In addition, BA.4 and BA.5 are driving waves in other countries like Europe and America.

“On Covid-19, globally reported cases have increased nearly 30 per cent over the last two weeks. Four out of six WHO sub-regions saw cases increase in the last week,” the news agency PTI quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Vaccination In India

Moreover, as of now, India has administered 1,99,27,27,559 crore vaccine doses, and for the age group 12-14 years, over 3,76,98,593 crore 1st dose vaccines have been administered. However, in the last 24 hours, 13,44,714 Covid-19 vaccines were administrated. Notably, the nationwide vaccination drive was started on January 16, 2021.

Earlier on Wednesday, the government of India has taken an important decision where people between the age of 18-59 in the country can get a booster dose or third dose of the COVID vaccine at government immunization centers for free. As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the booster dose will be free for 75 days, starting from July 15.