India Reports 1,41,986 New Covid-19 Cases, 285 Deaths

Experts don’t know what the next variants will look like or how they might shape the pandemic, but they say there’s no guarantee the sequels of Omicron will cause milder illness or that existing vaccines will work against them

India saw a single-day rise of 1,41,986 new coronavirus cases, raising the tally to 3,53,68,372, which included 3,071 cases of Omicron variant reported across 27 states and union territories so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

Of the 3,071 cases of the Omicron variant, 1,203 have recovered or migrated, according to the data updated by the ministry at 8 am.

Maharashtra has recorded the maximum number of 876 Omicron variant cases, followed by Delhi at 513, Karnataka 333, Rajasthan 291, Kerala 284 and Gujarat 204.

A total of 1,41,986 new coronavirus infections were reported in a day, the highest in around 222 days. The active Covid cases have increased to 4,72,169, the highest in around 187 days, according to the data.

The death toll has climbed to 4,83,463 with 285 fresh fatalities, it stated.

A total of 1,52,734 new infections were reported on May 31 last year.

The active Covid cases have increased to 4,72,169, comprising 1.34 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 97.30 per cent, the health ministry said.

An increase of 1,00,806 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, it said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 9.28 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 5.66 per cent, the ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from COVID-19 surged to 3,44,12,740, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.37 per cent, it said.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive have exceeded 150.06 crore, the ministry said.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19, 2020.

The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, 2021, and three crore on June 23 of that year.

The 285 new fatalities included 189 from Kerala and 20 from Maharashtra.

A total of 4,83,463 deaths due to the pandemic have been reported so far in the country, including 1,41,614 from Maharashtra, 49,305 from Kerala, 38,362 from Karnataka, 36,833 from Tamil Nadu, 25,136 from Delhi, 22,918 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,864 from West Bengal.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to co-morbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.