Covid: India logs 201 new Covid cases in last 24 hours

Ahead of Christmas, India reported 201 new coronavirus infections in the last 24  hours, raising the tally to 4.46 crore, while the active cases increased to 3,397, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, PTI reported. The national Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said.

The Ministry, on its website, also revealed that death toll currently stands at 5,30,691. Meanwhile, 220.04 crore doses of coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

Over the last few days, several countries, including China, have seen a sudden spike in Covid cases. In China, an internal estimate from the nation’s top health officials reveals that almost 250 million people may have caught Covid-19 in the first 20 days of December, reported CNN citing Bloomberg News and the Financial Times.

This has further put countries like India on a high alert as they look to take proactive measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.

On Friday, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) Mansukh Mandaviya presided over a high-level virtual meeting to review the country's public health preparedness for Covid-19 in the wake of rising cases in China and other countries.

He said that Centre and states need to work in tandem and in a collaborative spirit as was done during the previous surges for Covid-19 prevention and management.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also stressed on wearing masks, increased testing, and focus on genome sequencing.

Modi urged everyone to follow Covid appropriate behaviour at all times, especially in view of the upcoming festive season, including wearing masks in crowded public places. He also urged that that precaution dose may be encouraged especially for vulnerable and elderly groups.

Moreover, in view of the ongoing crisis, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued ‘Guidelines for International Arrivals’ in context of Covid-19 pandemic, effective from December 24.

"All travellers should preferably be fully vaccinated as per the approved primary schedule of vaccination against Covid-19 in their country," the Ministry said. Furthermore, 2% of the total passengers in the flight shall undergo random post arrival testing at the airport on arrival.  

Also Read: China estimates 250 million Covid infections in the last 20 days: Report