16:51 (IST)
Punjab CM asks Centre to start vaccinating younger people as 81% samples test positive for UK strain
Eighty-one percent of the 401 samples sent by the government for genome sequencing have tested positive for the UK variant of COVID-19 , Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Tuesday, and asked the Centre to widen the vaccination net to cover those younger than 60. Expressing concern over the COVID-19 situation, the chief minister also appealed to people to get themselves vaccinated and stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a larger section of the population.
16:34 (IST)
Govt opens up vaccination for all aged 45 and above as active caseload spikes
The Centre on Tuesday announced that starting 1 April, all citizens above the age of 45 will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots as part of the country’s nationwide inoculation drive. The decision comes at a point when India recorded 40,715 coronavirus cases in a day, taking the nationwide infection tally to 1,16,86,796, while the active caseload at 3,45,377 registered an increase for the 13th day in a row.
Coronavirus Latest Updates: India recorded 40,715 coronavirus cases in a day, taking the nationwide infection tally to 1,16,86,796, while the active caseload at 3,45,377 registered an increase for the 13th day in a row, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.
The active caseload now comprises 2.96 percent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 95.67 percent, the ministry data updated at 8 am stated.
The COVID-19 death toll of the country increased to 1,60,166, with 199 daily new fatalities, it said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,11,81,253, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.37 percent, the data stated.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh-mark on August 7,30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on 5 September and50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on 20 November and surpassed the one crore-mark on 19 December.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 23,54,13,233 samples have been tested till 22 March, with9,67,459 samples tested on Monday. Out of the 199 fresh fatalities, 58 each were reported from Maharashtra and Punjab, 12 each from Kerala and Chhattisgarh, and 10 each from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
A total of 1,60,166deaths due to the disease have been reported so far in the country, including 53,457 from Maharashtra, 12,609 from Tamil Nadu, 12,444 from Karnataka, 10,963 from Delhi, 10,308 from West Bengal, 8,759 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,191 from Andhra Pradesh, the ministry said.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
With inputs from PTI