India on Monday registered a slight drop in coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day, logging 3,68,147 new infections. With this, the overall cases count climbed to 19,925,604 in the country since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll rose by 3,417 to 2,18,959.

There are 34,13,642 active cases and as many as 1,62,93,003 patients have recovered from the infection.

India has so far administered 15,71,98,207 vaccine shots, giving 12,10,347 shots on Sunday.

In a statement, the health ministry said that 10 states Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar account for 73.78% of new coronavirus cases reported in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar and Haryana cumulatively account for 81.46% of India’s total active cases, the ministry added.

Meanwhile, 10 states account, including Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, account for 74.54% of the new deaths.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

On Sunday, Delhi reported more than 400 deaths for the second consecutive day. The national Capital logged 407 deaths and registered 20,394 new cases. The positivity rate is now at 28.33%.

Meanwhile, leaders of 13 Opposition parties urged the Centre to launch a free mass vaccination programme in the country to control the surge of the coronavirus pandemic. They asked the Centre to utilise the budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crore made towards the pandemic, for the inoculation programme.

In a joint statement, the leaders also called upon the Centre to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply to all hospitals and health centres. The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in an acute shortage of basic facilities like beds, ventilators, oxygen supplies and drugs as hospitals struggle to hold together the country’s healthcare infrastructure.

In view of the oxygen shortage in Delhi, the Supreme Court asked the Centre to rectify the scarcity problem that several Delhi hospitals are facing on or before Monday. At least three hospitals in Delhi on Sunday had sent out desperate pleas for oxygen as their stocks of the life-saving gas dwindled during the spiralling coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus has now infected 15.24 people across the world and killed over 31.98 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 8.92 crore people have recovered from the infection.

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