NEW DELHI: India saw a decline in new reported Covid-19 cases once again on Saturday with 1,73,790 people testing positive, according to the Union health ministry data.

This is the lowest number of cases recorded since 12 April. With the addition of fresh infections, the cumulative caseload has reached 2,77,29,247.

The daily positivity rate has come down to 8.36% and has been lesser than 10% for five days straight. The weekly positivity rate currently stands at 9.84%.

Although it had become a cause of concern after the country saw the second wave peaking, fatalities have started to see a downward trend too with 3,617 people succumbing to the disease in the last 24 hours.

The number stood at 3,660 the day before. The cumulative death toll in the country has reached 3,22,512.

Further, recoveries have outnumbered new cases for the sixteenth day with 2,84,601 getting discharged. This took the total number of discharges in the country to 2,51,78,011.

The recovery rate now stands at 90.80%.

As a result, the active caseload has dipped to 22,28,724, decreasing by 1,14,428 in the last 24 hours.

Tests conducted so far

India has tested 34,11,19,909 samples for Covid-19 until now, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Out of these, 20,80,048 samples were tested on Friday.

Vaccination in India

The country has so far administered 20,89,02,445 anti-Covid jabs. Out of these, 30,62,747 shots were given in the last 24 hours.
With the aim to inoculate a large population as soon as possible, the government has opened 1,075 call centres to facilitate booking vaccinations slots.

The nationwide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January with healthcare workers getting the jabs first. The drive for frontline workers started on 2 February.

The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced on 1 March for those over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for those aged above 45 from 1 April.

The implementation of the Liberalised and Accelerated Phase 3 Strategy for inoculating those in the age group of 18-44 years started from 1 May amid many states flagging a shortage of vaccines.