India on Sunday reported 41,506 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s tally since the pandemic broke out in January 2020 to 30,837,222, data from the health ministry showed. The toll rose by 895 to 4,08,040.

As many as 2,99,75,064 people have recovered from the disease so far. The active caseload declined to 4.54 lakh.

The daily positivity rate stood at 2.25%, less than 3% for 20 consecutive days now, representing a glimmer of hope for India. The country has vaccinated 37.6 crore beneficiaries under its nationwide inoculation drive.

On Saturday, the Centre said that the second coronavirus wave, which has raged since March, was not over yet. Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla warned citizens to avoid crowding tourist places.

World Health Organization’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan also said that the pandemic has not been slowing down. She cited the fast-spreading Delta variant, easing of lockdown restrictions, relaxation of safety mandates such as wearing of masks and physical distancing norms and the slow pace of vaccinations as the primary reasons for the continuing spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Sunday announced more relaxations to Covid-19 curbs in the city. Academic gatherings and meetings at schools and colleges will be allowed from Monday. However, students will not be allowed to physically attend schools and other educational institutions, according to an order issued by the Arvind Kejriwal government.

Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 18.59 crore people and killed over 40.17 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.