India on Saturday recorded 34,457 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 3,23,93,286 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The number of cases was 5.78% fewer than Friday’s count of 36,571 infections.

The country’s toll rose to 4,33,964 with 375 more deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, while the number of active cases declined by 2,265 to 3,61,340.

(Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare)

Other updates

  • The Delta variant of Covid-19 may be responsible for most breakthrough infections in India, the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium, or INSACOG, a scientific advisory group that coordinates the country’s genome sequencing work, said on Thursday. Breakthrough infections are when people contract the virus after vaccination.
  • Bihar has recorded 2.51 lakh excess deaths under the Civil Registration System between March 2020 and May 2021, the Hindustan Times reported. The number is 48.6 times the official number of confirmed coronavirus deaths in the state during the same period.
  • A Covid-19 patient in Chennai who was on ventilator support for 109 days and had his lungs completely damaged has fully recovered from the disease, NDTV reported.

Global updates

  • New Zealand recorded 21 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned that the number may go higher, Reuters reported. The country had reported its first case since January earlier this week.
  • Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 21.08 crore people and led to over 44.14 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.