COVID-19: India records 58,419 fresh infections; 1,576 fatalities

New Delhi: India recorded less than 60,000 new Coronavirus infections after 81 days taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,98,81,965, while the active cases further reduced to 7,29,243 on Sunday.

A total of 58,419 fresh infections were reported in a day.

The death toll climbed to 3,86,713 with 1,576 fresh fatalities, the lowest in 63 days.

The active cases further declined to 7,29,243 comprising 2.44 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate improved to 96.27 per cent, the data updated by the Union Health Ministry at 8 am showed.

A net decline of 30,776 cases has been recorded in the COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 18,11,446 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 39,10,19,083.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.22 per cent. It has been less than 5 per cent for 13 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 3.43 per cent.

Recoveries continue to outnumber daily new cases for the 38th consecutive day. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,87,66,009, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.29 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulatively, 27,66,93,572 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered so far.

Meanwhile, states like Haryana and Uttarakhand extended the lockdown while Tamil Nadu and J&K eased some curbs imposed in the states.

The Haryana government on Sunday extended the COVID-19 lockdown in the state by another week till June 28, but eased restrictions imposed on weddings and funerals, and allowed corporate offices to operate with full attendance.

Similarly, the Uttarakhand government on Sunday decided to extend the Covid lockdown in the state for another week from June 22 but allowed hotels, restaurants and bars to open at half their capacities.

It also decided to open the chardham yatra for locals from July 1 and for people from the rest of the state from July 11, Cabinet minister and state government's official spokesperson Subodh Uniyal said.

Bringing a negative RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen test report, however, will be compulsory for the pilgrims, he said.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir State Executive Committee (SEC) on Sunday announced the lifting of weekend curfew from eight of the 20 districts, with further easing of restrictions owing to significant improvement in the Covid situation.

However, the night curfew would continue to remain in force in Shopian, Ganderbal and Bandipora in Kashmir and Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, and Udhampur in Jammu province, an official order said. The Tamil Nadu government too announced more relaxations in lockdown norms for 27 districts and bus services are all set to resume in four districts including Chennai from Monday, after a gap of 42 days.

Dispensing with the e-registration requirement in Chennai and three other nearby districts, the government said people could travel in autorickshaws and taxis without such prior approval.