India registers 11,666 new COVID-19 infection

Covid-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours saw a dip from the previous day, with India recording 11,666 infections, pushing the country’s tally to 1,07,01,193, according to the Union Health Ministry update on Thursday.

Besides, 153 cases of the highly contagious UK coronavirus strain have been detected in India so far, said Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The death toll climbed to 1,53,847, after 123 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours. The fatality rate now stands at 1.44 percent.

Meanwhile, the trend of daily Covid-19 recoveries surpassing daily new cases continued on Thursday, with 14,301 patients being discharged in a span of 24 hours. This has now been observed for 21 consecutive days, with cumulative recoveries now at 1,03,73,606.

The number of active coronavirus cases in the country also dropped to 1,73,740, constituting 1.62 percent of the total infection count, the Health Ministry data showed. Active cases declined by 2,758 in the 24-hour period.

While Maharashtra and Kerala account for 70 percent of the Covid-19 cases in the country, 147 districts haven’t recorded a single infection in the last 7 days. “18 districts haven’t seen a case in last 14 days, six have not seen a case in last 21 days and 21 haven’t seen a case in last 28 days,” said Harsh Vardhan.

“India has one of the lowest daily Covid-19 new cases per million population (69) in the last 7 days,” the ministry has said. Daily new cases had touched a new low on Tuesday, dropping below 10,000 in 237 days.

As of January 28, more than 23 lakh (23,55,97) healthcare and frontline workers have been vaccinated against Covid-19. In a span of 24 hours, 3,26,499 people were inoculated.