NEW DELHI: With 9,111 new cases, the country witnessed a slight dip in daily COVID-19 cases since last Thursday.
Meanwhile, 27 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry data released on Monday.
Six deaths were reported from Gujarat, four from Uttar Pradesh, three each from Delhi and Rajasthan, two from Maharashtra, one each from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and three reconciled by Kerala.
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Meanwhile, India has recorded 10,093 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, about six per cent lower than Sunday’s count of 10,747 infections.
This is the fourth consecutive day on which the country has clocked over 10,000 cases in the recent spike in infections over the past couple of weeks.
The number of active cases in the country stands at 57,542.
The daily positivity rate, an indicator of the spread of infection, is 5.61 per cent.
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However, former director of AIIMS, Delhi, Dr Randeep Guleria, on Saturday, said while the country was seeing a fresh surge in COVID-19 infections, the situation isn’t one to induce panic.
The upward trend in COVID cases has prompted several states to hold review meetings to assess preparations for another surge in hospitalizations.
Sources from the Central Government have said that the cases are likely to rise for the next 10-12 days and then subside.
They have asserted that there is no need to worry.
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The infection is now in the endemic stage, sources from the Health Ministry have said.
In an endemic stage, an infection is restricted to a particular region whereas in pandemic, the infection spreads to a bigger area or even worldwide.
Sources from the Government have said while the number of cases may go up, hospitalizations will remain low.
The daily positivity was recorded at 8.40 per cent and the weekly positivity rate was pegged at 4.94 per cent.
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According to the Union Health Ministry data, the number of active cases increased to 60,313 while the overall death toll rose to 5,31,141.
The total COVID case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore.
As per the ministry’s data, the active cases now comprise 0.13 per cent of the total infections.
The national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.68 per cent.
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The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,35,772 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
As of now, 220.66 crore doses of COVID vaccine have been administered in the country under the nationwide vaccination drive.