New Delhi: India became the first country in the world to record more than four lakh new coronavirus cases, reporting 4,01,993 daily cases on Saturday morning, a day on which the country’s vaccine programme is set to be opened up for all adults. The death toll rose by 3,523, according to the Union health ministry.
The cumulative infection tally rose to 1,91,64,969, while there are more than 32 lakh active cases. So far, 2,11,853 people have died due to the infection.
The country’s active cases comprise 17.06% of the total infections and the national recovery rate stands at 81.84%. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,56,84,406, while the case fatality rate stands 1.11%.
India has reported more than 3 lakh new cases for the past ten days.
The 3,523 new fatalities include 828 from Maharashtra, 375 from Delhi, 332 from Uttar Pradesh, 269 from Chhattisgarh, 217 from Karnataka, 173 from Gujarat, 155 from Rajasthan, 122 from Uttarakhand and 120 from Jharkhand, 113 each from Punjab and Tamil Nadu.
A total of 2,11,853 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 68,813 from Maharashtra, 16,147 from Delhi,15,523 from Karnataka, 14,046 from Tamil Nadu, 12,570 from Uttar Pradesh, 11,344 from West Bengal, 9,022 from Punjab and 8,581 from Chhattisgarh.
According to Reuters, as the second wave has picked up steam, India has added about 7.7 million cases since the end of February. In contrast, it took India nearly six months to add the previous 7.7 million cases, the news agency reported.
Several states have expressed their inability to kick off the vaccine expansion on Saturday, saying they do not have access to sufficient stocks. Most states are only expected to begin administering vaccines to people between the ages of 18 and 44 from the third week of May.
According to the health ministry, 15.49 crore doses of vaccines have been administered in India so far.
(With inputs from PTI and Reuters)