India logs 2.08 lakh new COVID cases; active caseload dips to 24.9 lakh, recovery rate over 89 per cent

india coronavirus cases — Image Source : PTI
New Delhi: A health worker in PPE kit stand near Covid-19 patient, at Covid Care Center Rakabganj Gurudwara

India on Wednesday recorded 2,08,921 new cases of the novel coronavirus, along with 4,157 deaths due to the infection. According to the data shared by the Union Health Ministry, the country saw a total of 2,95,955 discharges in the last 24 hours, taking the total recovery to 2,43,50,816. The total cases of COVID-19 in India have now mounted to 2,71,57,795, with 24,95,591 active cases, the data showed. The total death toll in the country is now at 3,11,388. A total of 20,06,62,456 people have so far been vaccinated against COVID-19 in India.

The Health Ministry on Wednesday said the recovery rate has now increased to 89.66 per cent. The weekly positivity rate is at 11.45 per cent, daily positivity rate at 9.42 per cent, less than 10 per cent for 2 consecutive days. Over 20 cr vaccine doses administered so far under nationwide drive, along with highest ever 22.17 lakh tests conducted in a single day.

States have been urged repeatedly to keep vaccine wastage below 1%, many States like Jharkhand (37.3%), Chhattisgarh (30.2%), Tamil Nadu (15.5%), Jammu & Kashmir (10.8%), Madhya Pradesh (10.7%) are reporting much higher wastage than the national average (6.3%), the Ministry of Health said.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7 last, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19 last year.

India crossed the grim milestone of 2 crore on May 4 this year.

Name of State / UT	Active Cases*		Cured/Discharged/Migrated*		Deaths**
Name of State / UT	Total	Change since yesterday	Cumulative	Change since yesterday	Cumulative	Change since yesterday
1	Andaman and Nicobar Islands	254	14	6495	22	104	1
2	Andhra Pradesh	203762	5475	1379837	18373	10222	96
3	Arunachal Pradesh	3127	228	21344	248	102	4
4	Assam	53996	885	318585	5252	2823	84
5	Bihar	37943	2749	649835	5500	4642	93
6	Chandigarh	4428	446	53597	684	709	7
7	Chhattisgarh	60938	4836	879625	8985	12646	60
8	Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu	439	82	9606	144	4
9	Delhi	24578	3032	1370431	4375	23409	207
10	Goa	16278	999	129162	2362	2421	38
11	Gujarat	68971	6163	713065	9305	9621	45
12	Haryana	38119	4697	696059	8359	7607	95
13	Himachal Pradesh	24181	1798	153975	3686	2827	61
14	Jammu and Kashmir	45630	1807	223619	3999	3609	45
15	Jharkhand	17569	1930	309371	3291	4871	33
16	Karnataka	440456	32551	1983948	57333	25811	529
17	Kerala	259559	18414	2098674	36039	7554	196
18	Ladakh	1463	59	15891	184	178
19	Lakshadweep	2162	112	4661	124	24
20	Madhya Pradesh	53653	4113	706003	6989	7618	60
21	Maharashtra	330215	20790	5182592	42320	89212	592
22	Manipur	6444	90	37478	611	705	17
23	Meghalaya	7788	108	22221	679	483	24
24	Mizoram	2569	108	8019	180	34	1
25	Nagaland	4714	36	15248	143	297	12
26	Odisha	99701	587	601224	11614	2516	32
27	Puducherry	15835	1016	79765	1915	1382	23
28	Punjab	54996	2509	475011	6803	13468	187
29	Rajasthan	99875	12343	812775	16654	7806	103
30	Sikkim	3184	133	9817	226	232	8
31	Tamil Nadu	301580	7437	1554759	27026	20872	404
32	Telangana	39206	1283	513968	4305	3146	21
33	Tripura	8302	341	38526	427	470	5
34	Uttarakhand	49579	5156	260084	7105	5927	122
35	Uttar Pradesh	76703	8177	1577720	11918	19362	153
36	West Bengal	128585	1940	1141871	19670	14517	153
Total#		2586782	133934	24054861	326850	307231	3511

Meanwhile, Moderna is expecting to launch a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India next year and is in talks with Cipla among other Indian firms, while another US giant Pfizer is ready to offer 5 crore shots in 2021 itself but it wants significant regulatory relaxations including indemnification, sources said on Tuesday.

While Moderna has conveyed to Indian authorities that it does not have surplus vaccines to share in 2021, there are limited prospects of Johnson & Johnson exporting its jabs from the US to other countries in the near future, the sources privy to discussions added.

Two rounds of high-level meetings chaired by the Cabinet Secretary were held last week on the availability of vaccines in the global as well as domestic markets as it was felt that there is an urgent need to procure the jabs at a time the country is reeling under an unprecedented second wave of COVID-19 and a widening gap between supply and requirement.