New Delhi:
India on Wednesday reported 42,625 new COVID-19 cases, 36,668 recoveries and 562 deaths in 24 hours, as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. An increase of 12,076 cases was recorded in the daily infections since Tuesday when 30,549 new cases were reported.
With this, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases has reached 3,17,69,132 including 3,09,33,022 discharges and 4,25,757 deaths. The number of active cases has gone up to 4,10,353, accounting for 1.29 per cent of the total number of cases.
According to the health ministry, the daily positivity rate is at 2.31 per cent, the weekly positivity rate at 2.36 per cent, and the recovery is at 97.37 per cent. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 47,31,42,307 samples have been tested for Covid-19 till now of which 18,47,518 were tested in the last 24 hours.
The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far has reached 48,52,86,570 of which 62,53,741 doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
India has administered the most number of coronavirus vaccine doses in the world after China, according to the government's Co-Win website, but lags many countries in terms of per capita inoculations.
The country wants to immunize all its adult population of 944 million by December and has given at least one dose to nearly 40% of them.
India's gender inequity in vaccinations narrows
The gender disparity in India's COVID-19 immunisation drive has narrowed, government data showed on Wednesday, as pregnant women are now allowed to get their shots and authorities try to dispel rumours about fertility.
Women have received about 47% of the 481 million vaccine doses administered in India, nearly in line with the gender ratio in the country, the data showed. Men have now received 13% more doses than women, compared with about 17% in early June. read more
India officially started vaccinating pregnant women only in July and has been running ground-level campaigns to encourage them to get their shots, according to the government. It has also sent teams of grassroots health workers to towns and villages to dispel fears that vaccines affect fertility.
A communication strategy is in place which is being implemented across "sustain vaccine confidence", the health ministry told parliament on Tuesday, highlighting the efforts to reach out to more women.