India on Saturday registered 35,662 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the country’s overall tally of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in January last year to 3,34,17,390. The new cases were 3.65% higher than Friday’s count of 34,403 infections.

The total number of deaths due to the coronavirus increased to 4,44,529, with 281 fatalities recorded in the past 24 hours.

India currently has 340639 active Covid-19 cases, and the number of active cases increased by 1.583 in the past 24 hours. Active infections account for 1.02% of the total cases in the country.

The number of people who have recovered from Covid-19 till now is 3,26,32,222 and the nationwide recovery rate currently stands at 97.65%, as per figures from the Union health ministry.

A total of 79,42,87,699 people have received Covid-19 vaccines as of now. In the past day, 2,15,98,046 coronavirus vaccines were administered to people. The record high number of vaccinations was part of a special push to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 71st birthday.

Other updates

  • Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to have completely vaccinated over 2 crore residents against the coronavirus, The Times of India quoted state additional chief secretary (health) Pradeep Vyas as saying. Over 54% of the state’s adult population has received at least one dose of the vaccine till now.
  • The results of the fifth sero survey by Mumbai municipal corporation showed that 86.64% of the city’s population has antibodies against the coronavirus. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that Covid-19 antibodies were found in 90.26% of residents who were fully or partially vaccinated and in 79.86% of unvaccinated citizens.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday lauded health workers in Goa after the state administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to its entire eligible population, The Times of India reported. He also said that the record nationwide vaccination numbers on Friday showed “our dedication to fight against this pandemic.”
  • Virologist Gagandeep Kang said that the anticipated third wave of Covid-19 would not be as devastating as the the second wave unless a new variant of the virus emerged, reported PTI. She emphasised the need to develop better vaccines to deal with new variants.  
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said on Twitter that he looked forward to many more days of 2.1 crore daily vaccinations. “This pace is what our country needs,” he remarked.

Global updates

  • The United States is prepared to begin administering COVID-19 vaccine booster doses next week if health authorities approve the plan, Reuters quoted White House officials as saying. The government will follow the evaluations and recommendations of the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
  • Globally, the coronavirus has infected over 22.76 crore people and caused more than 46.78 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.