4,157 more succumb to Covid in 24 hrs

New Delhi: India on Wednesday reported 2,08,921 COVID-19 infections, pushing the overall tally of cases to 2,71,57,795, as the country conducted 22,17,320 Coronavirus tests, its highest-ever in a day, according to Union Health Ministry data.

The death toll also climbed to 3,11,388 with 4,157 fatalities reported in a 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A total of 22,17,320 tests, the highest in a day, were conducted on Tuesday taking the cumulative number so far in the country to 33,48,11,496, while the daily positivity declined to 9.42 per cent, the ministry said.

This is the second day in a row that the case positivity rate has remained below 10 per cent, the ministry said. The weekly positivity rate has also declined to 11.45 per cent.

The updated data showed that the number of active cases have further come down to 24,95,591, with a net decline of 91,191 in a span of 24 hours.

The active cases now constituting 9.19 per cent of the total infections.

The data also showed that 2,95,955 patients recovered from the virus in a span of 24 hours, pushing the total recoveries so far to 2,43,50,816. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 89.66 per cent, it showed.

The case fatality rate was 1.15 per cent, the data showed.

According to government data, since May 1, 26 per cent of all patients in the country who have been infected with corona are aged between 18 and 30 years. Between May 1 and May 7, 26.58 per cent of the total infected patients were aged between 18 and 30 years. Between May 8 and May 14, the figure was 25.89 per cent.

After this, between May 15 and May 21, 25.64 per cent of the infected were aged between 18 and 30 years and from May 22 to May 25, 25.60 per cent of the total infected were reported in the same age group.

After this, people in the age group of 31 to 40 years are the most infected. 23.12 per cent of this age group was infected between May 1 and 7, 22.79 per cent between May 8 and 14, and 22.58 per cent of people between May 15 and 21. Then from May 22 to May 24, this figure was at 22.24 per cent.

Those over 60 only accounted for 13 per cent or less of all the fresh cases in the first 24 days of this month.

Coronavirus has infected less than 10 per cent of children and adolescents during this period. From 7.82 per cent of all cases in the May 1 to May 7 period, it went up to 8.73 per cent in the previous three days. In percentage terms the biggest single-group increase was those between 11-17 years old - from 4.89 per cent in May 15-21 to over 5 per cent in May 22-24.

Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 20.25 crore on Wednesday.

8,31,500 beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group received the first dose of Covid vaccine on Wednesday and cumulatively 1,38,62,428 people across 37 states and union territories have received it since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive on May 1.

According to provisional data, the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered across the country so far stands at 20,25,29,884. As many as 17,19,931 vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday, the 131st day of the vaccination drive.

(with agency inputs)