COVID-19 tests cross 23 crore-mark in India

The number of tests conducted for detection of COVID-19 across the country has crossed 23 crore, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. It also said that India's cumulative positivity rate stands at 4.98 per cent as on date  India's tests per day per million population are more than 140 and the daily positivity rate is 3.37 per cent as of today , the ministry said.India is fast approaching total vaccination coverage of 4 crore. A total of 3,71,43,255 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered through 6,15,267 sessions, as per the provisional report till Thursday 7 am.These include 75,68,844 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have been given the 1st dose, 46,32,940 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 77,16,084 frontline workers (FLWs) who have been given the 1st dose and 19,09,528 FLWs who have taken the 2nd dose

Besides, 24,57,179 beneficiaries aged more than 45 -60 years with specific co-morbidities and 1,28,58,680 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years have been administered the 1st dose.More than 20 lakh (20,78,719) vaccine doses were administered on day-61 of the vaccination drive (17th March)

Of the total, 17,38,750 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 28,412 sessions for 1st dose and 3,39,969 HCWs and FLWs received 2nd dose of vaccine.India's total active caseload has reached 2,52,364 comprising 2.20 per cent of the total infections. "A net incline of 17,958 cases recorded from the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours," the ministry said. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in the COVID-19 daily new cases, the ministry said adding 79.54 per cent of the new cases are from these five states.The ministry said that 35,871 new cases were registered in a span of 24 hours. Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 16,620 (accounting for 63.21 per cent of the daily new cases). It is followed by Kerala with 1,792 while Punjab reported 1,492 new cases, the ministry said."A rising trajectory of daily new cases is visible in eight states. These are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana. "Kerala is reporting a consistently declining trend over the last one month," the ministry stated. India's cumulative recoveries surged to 1,10,63,025 with 17,741 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours.

The ministry further said that 172 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours. Five states account for 84.88 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (84). Punjab follows with 35 daily deaths and Kerala reported13 deaths in 24 hours.

The case fatality rate remains below 1.5 per cent (1.39%) and is continuously declining, the ministry said.  Eighteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in a span of 24 hours. These are Rajasthan, Assam, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Jharkhand, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Sikkim,Ladakh (UT), Manipur, Daman and Diu & Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.