In the last 24 hours, India has seen 281,386 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to a report released by the Union health ministry on Monday. The total tally now stands at 24,965,463.
The data, which was updated at 8 a.m., showed that 4,106 people died from the disease during that time period, bringing the total death toll to 274,390.
The number of active cases, a grim indicator of the disease’s spread, fell to 3,516,997 from 3,618,458 on Sunday.
Despite the fact that active cases have decreased in recent days, the health ministry reported on Sunday that 74.69 percent of these cases are concentrated in ten states. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Chhattisgarh are the states in question.
It also stated that the country’s positivity rate – the percentage of positive samples among all samples tested – has dropped to 16.98% from 24.47 percent on May 3.
Over the phone on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the Covid-19 situation with the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Puducherry.
Meanwhile, under phase 3 of the nationwide vaccination drive, the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed 18.29 crore on Sunday. According to data on the health ministry’s website, 18,29,26,460 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines on Sunday to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease in rural areas. It urged states to ensure community-based and primary health-care services to deal with the situation, emphasising the importance of ground workers being trained in containment, surveillance, and the use of rapid antigen testing (RAT) for screening, as well as tele-consultation.
A high-level video conference meeting with all states and union territories was also chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul.
