Rising deaths and dip in cases; Second wave has crossed its peak, says Centre  

NEW DELHI: The active COVID-19 cases in India dipped to 21.14 lakh on Sunday after the country reported just 1.65 lakh fresh positives in the last 24 hours, the lowest single-day spike in more than 45 days, said the Union Health Ministry in its daily updates.

India's total caseload, as per the Health Ministry data, stands at 2.78 crores while the toll has reached the mark of 3.25 lakh with 3,460 new deaths in the same period. On the other hand, 2.76 lakh more patients have recovered from the infection, taking India's recoveries to 2.54 crore.

The fatality rate in India stands at 1.16 per cent while the recovery rate has improved to 91.25 per cent. The daily positivity rate, meanwhile, has dropped to 8.02 per cent.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 34.31 crore samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far. Out of this, 20.63 lakh samples were tested on Saturday.

States, UTs give partial relaxations

With a decline in COVID-19 cases across the country, several states and union territories (UTs) are mulling relaxing the curbs imposed to control the coronavirus surge. Delhi and Madhya Pradesh on Saturday evening issued fresh guidelines, allowing the resumption of several activities in the two states.

Similarly, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is also mulling relaxations in the partial corona curfew imposed earlier. As per a report by Dainik Jagran, the Yogi government will give reliefs to industries, shops and markets in the state.

However, several states and UTs have refused to relax the curbs amid fears that cases might rise again. On Saturday, Kerala extended the lockdown for another week. Before that, Haryana, Puducherry, Rajasthan and Goa also extended the lockdown and other restrictions imposed to control the surge in cases.

However, the Health Ministry has said that the downward trend in cases will continue in India even if restrictions are withdrawn "significantly". It, however, has warned against any kind of laxity and said that people must follow appropriate COVID norms to ensure that cases do not rise again.