COVID-19: India reports 11,692 new coronavirus cases, active tally climb to 66,170

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COVID-19: India has recorded 11,692 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 66,170, informed the Union Health Ministry on Friday (April 21). The death toll has increased to 5,31,258 with 28 deaths, which includes nine reconciled by Kerala. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.48 crore (4,48,69,684) today. 

Active cases:

The active cases now comprise 0.15 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.67 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,72,256, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.18 per cent.

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Health ministry data on vaccination: 

According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Rising cases:

In wake of the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, Dr PK Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation. The PMO informed in a statement that the focus of the meeting was on the status of preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, drugs, vaccination campaign in the country and the key necessary steps as a response to the recent surge in Covid cases.

"Dr PK Mishra stressed that the time tested 5-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence COVID Appropriate Behaviour must continue to be implemented and equally crucial to promote awareness within the community regarding COVID appropriate behaviour and caution citizens against complacency," the PMO statement read. During the meeting, a comprehensive presentation was made by Rajesh Bhushan, the Secretary of Health and Family Welfare providing an overview of the global COVID-19 situation.

Bhushan highlighted that India has been witnessing a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases with the majority of cases being reported in eight states; Kerala, Delhi, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Rajasthan. Further, the sudden increase in positivity was also highlighted along with the status of tests being conducted in the country. A detailed analysis of active cases within these eight states was presented. It was highlighted that approximately 92 per cent of the cases are under home isolation.

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