Covid-19 active cases nearing a million; surge to 7.23 lakh

India now has a total of 7,23,619 active Covid-19 cases, as nearly 1.8 lakh new infections were reported in the last 24 hours. About 1.60 lakh new cases were reported on Saturday.

Daily positivity rate is about 13.29% and weekly positivity rate is about 7.92% in the country. As against the 1.8 lakh new infections, recoveries were only 46,569 cases in the last 24 hours.

Omicron cases in the country have also surged ahead to over 4,000 cases, the most from Maharashtra, which now has 1,216 cases. While Rajasthan has 529 cases, Delhi reported 513 cases, Karnataka has 441 cases, and Kerala has 333 cases.

Maharashtra, which has a total of over two lakh Covid-19 active cases, reported over 29,000 cases in a day. While West Bengal reported over 16,000 cases in a day, Delhi had over 12,500 cases, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka reported over 11,000 cases each in a day. Uttar Pradesh with 7,400 cases, Gujarat and Rajasthan (over 5,000 cases each), Bihar (over 4,500 cases), Haryana and Odisha (over 4,300 cases), Punjab and Kerala (3,800 cases each) are the most infected states in the country.

The government also said India administered 29.60 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccines in a day, taking the total vaccinations to nearly 152 crore doses. The centre is also rolling out 'precaution doses' or booster doses for frontline and healthcare workers and vulnerable senior citizens from today.

Meanwhile, in a revised discharge policy for Covid-19 cases, the government has said mild cases admitted to a Covid-19 care facility or under home isolation will undergo regular health monitoring and the patient shall be discharged after at least seven days of testing positive and with no fever for three successive days. There is no need for testing prior to discharge and are advised to self-monitor their health for further 7 days. In the case of moderate cases, if there is resolution of symptoms and the patient maintains saturation above 93% for the three successive days (without oxygen support), and stable comorbidities, such patient will be discharged as per the advice of the treating medical officer.