India’s cumulative COVID-19 fatalities crossed the 3 lakh-mark on May 23. With 3,897 deaths till 9.50 p.m. on May 23, the country has recorded 3,03,196 overall deaths. Only the United States and Brazil have registered more cumulative fatalities than India.
India also recorded 2,09,168 new cases on May 23. Tamil Nadu reported 35,483 infections, followed by Karnataka (25,979) and Kerala (25,820). Maharashtra recorded 894 casualties on the day, followed by Karnataka (624) and Tamil Nadu (422). Maharashtra’s fatalities include backlog deaths which were missed in the previous reports.
The figures do not include cases and deaths from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Ladakh. The data are sourced from the respective States’ health bulletins.
As many as 21,23,782 samples were tested on May 22 (the results for which were made available on May 23), the highest-ever number of tests carried out in a single day in the country. This is the fourth instance when the daily tests have crossed the 20 lakh-mark. India’s average daily test positivity rate (TPR, positive cases identified for every 100 tests) continues to decline. It was 22.7% on May 9 and reduced to 13.4% as on May 22.
Vaccine doses
Around 16.04 lakh vaccine doses were administered in the country in the 24 hours ending 7 a.m. on May 23, which is 1.4 lakh doses more than what was recorded in the previous 24 hours. Also, it is 1.3 lakh doses more than what was recorded in the same period, one week ago.
As of 9 p.m. on May 23, in India, 16.1% of the adult population, 36% of the 45+ population and 41.5% of the 60+ population have been vaccinated with at least one dose. In Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, only about 9% of the adult population has been vaccinated with at least one dose.
Among the 60+ age-group, 18.2% in Tamil Nadu and 25.4% in Uttar Pradesh have been vaccinated with at least one dose. While 67% in Chhattisgarh and 80% in Rajasthan have been done so.