India reports 60,471 new COVID-19 cases; lowest tally in 75 days, says Centre

Coronavirus LATEST News Updates: The Delta variant of coronavirus , first identified in India, doubles the risk of hospitalisation compared with the Alpha variant first found in the UK, but Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines provide good protection against the strain, says a study published in The Lancet journal.

Researchers at Public Health Scotland and the University of Edinburgh, UK, found that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine offered better protection against the Delta variant compared to the Oxford-AstraZeneca preventive, known as Covishield in India.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that a review of the COVID-19 situation was conducted and curbs will be eased in the state from 16 to 22 June. Government and non-government offices will remain open till 5 pm, shops and establishments can operate till 6 pm, the chief minister said on Twitter. “Night curfew will be in force from 8 pm to 5 am,” he added.

 The Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said that the weekly COVID-19 positivity rate fell to 4.39 percent.

The daily positivity rate stands at 3.45 percent, which is less than 5 percent for eight consecutive days, the statement added.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in India declined to 9,13,378 on Tuesday and now comprise 3.09 percent of the total infections.

Meanwhile, the national COVID-19 recovery rate improved to 95.64, the Centre said.

India on Tuesday reported 60,471 new COVID-19 cases, which is the lowest single-day tally after 75 days, the Union Health Ministry said.

The total caseload rose to 2,95,70,881, of which active cases are 9,13,378.

Maharashtra on Monday reported 8,129 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day count since March 2, taking the state’s tally to 59,17,121, while 200 more deaths pushed the toll to 1,12,696, the health department said.

The rise in fresh coronavirus cases was the lowest since March 2, when 7,863 infections were reported in the state. Over the last few days, the daily spike has been around 10,000. The state had reported 9,927 cases on March 9.

A statement from the state health department said 14,732 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, taking the count of recovered cases to 56,54,003.

The state’s COVID-19 recovery rate is 95.55 per cent and the case fatality rate is 1.90 per cent, the statement said. As many as 1,68,902 coronavirus tests were conducted during the last 24 hours, taking the number of samples examined so far to 3,82,15,492, it said.

The state currently has 1,47,354 active cases of coronavirus , the statement said. Mumbai reported 530 new cases and 19 deaths, taking the tally to 7,16,190 and the toll to 15,202, the department said.

The wider Mumbai division reported 1,457 cases and 30 deaths, pushing the infection tally to 15,64,779 and the toll to 30,601, it said. The Nashik division reported 787 COVID-19 cases, including 429 in Ahmednagar district 216 in Nashik district.

The Pune division registered 1,804 cases, including 599 in Satara district, the statement said. The Kolhapur division recorded 3,027 cases, including 810 in Kolhapur district, 657 in Ratnagiri district and 666 in Sangli district.

The Aurangabad division logged in 197 coronavirus cases, the Latur division 433, the Akola division 309 and the Nagpur division reported 115 cases of the viral infection, the statement said.

Maharashtra’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 59,17,121; new cases 8,129, Deaths 1,12,696; Recoveries 56,54,003; Active cases 1,47,354; Tests conducted so far 3,82,15,492.