New Delhi, Sept 27:
India reported 26,041 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday. The active caseload now stands at 2,99,620 which is the lowest in 191 days. The active cases account for less than 1 per cent and are currently at 0.89 per cent of total cases.
With 29,621 recoveries during the last 24 hours, the recovery rate stands at 97.78 per cent. As many as 3,29,31,972 people have recovered from the disease so far, according to the health ministry.
The daily positivity rate has remained below 3 per cent for the last 28 days and currently stands at 2.24 per cent while the weekly positivity rate is at 1.94 per cent. It has remained below 3 per cent in the last 94 days.
India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed the 86 crore mark, the Union Health Ministry informed on Monday.
"With the administration of 38,18,362 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the landmark of 86 (86,01,59,011) crores as per provisional reports till 7 am today. This has been achieved through 84,07,679 sessions," stated an official release.
Of the total, 1,03,71,418 health care workers have received the first dose and 88,35,377 vaccine doses have been administered as the second dose to them. As many as 1,83,49,453 frontline workers were administered the first dose and 1,48,33,709 were given as the second dose to them.
A total of 56.44 crore COVID-19 tests have been conducted across India. The health ministry said that 86.01 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
Kerala reported 15,951 fresh COVID-19 infections and 165 deaths, as per the state health ministry on Sunday. The number of active cases in the state stands at 1,63,280.
As many as 17,658 persons recovered from the disease in the state in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries in Kerala to 44,41,430. The COVID-19 death toll in Kerala stands at 24,603.
Meanwhile, at least 73 percent of Odisha's population and over 93 percent of health workers have developed antibodies against SARS-CoV2, according to a recent serosurvey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The survey was conducted in 12 of the state's 30 districts between August 29 and September 15 by experts of ICMR's Regional Medical Research (ICMR), Bhubaneswar with help of the Health and Family Welfare Department of the Odisha government.
The survey was conducted in the districts of Sambalpur, Sundergarh, Jharsuguda, Keonjhar, Khurda, Puri, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, and Nabarangpur.
Sanghamitra Pati, Director of RMRC, Bhubaneswar said, of 5,796 samples collected from the community, it was found that 4,247 have antibodies. Similarly, 1,232 health workers out of 1,312 samples collected, have developed the antibodies, she said.
''We found 73.5 percent seroprevalence among the community and 93.9 percent among the healthcare workers,'' Pati said, adding that of the 12 surveyed districts, Khurda district has the highest seroprevalence of 80 percent followed by Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, and Jharsuguda (around 68 percent).
In terms of age groups, the RMRC director said: ''Seventy percent of people in the 6-10 year age group, 74 percent of 11-18 age group, 75 percent of 19-44 age group, 72 percent 45-60 age group and 66 percent above 60 years of age have the antibodies''.
Among the seropositive adults, around 66.5 percent had received at least the first dose of vaccine, she said, adding that the study also found that 25.6 percent are fully immunized, 41.4 percent are partially vaccinated and 33 percent are unimmunized.
Pati said there is no major difference in the seroprevalence and vaccination coverage among urban and rural areas of Odisha.