India records 1,685 new cases, 83 deaths in 24 hours

India on Friday reported 1,685 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the COVID-19 tally to 4,30,16,372. According to Union health ministry data, the active cases declined further to 21,530 today.

The active cases comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.75 per cent, it showed.

A reduction of 2,531 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.29 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate stood at 0.35 per cent, the ministry said.

Australia is offering a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines to over 65s from next month, federal health authorities announced Friday, as a new Omicron strain races through the population.

The top advisory group on vaccines approved the fourth shot for vulnerable groups: those aged over 65, indigenous people over 50, people who are immunocompromised and care home residents.

In the past six weeks, other countries, including France, Germany and Sweden as well as health authorities in England, have recommended a fourth Covid-19 vaccine dose for the most vulnerable, including the elderly.

Australia has been reporting daily infection rates of more than 50,000 in the past few days — about double those of just a month earlier — blamed partly on the rise of a more infectious BA.2 Omicron variant.