Active Covid cases dip below 3L mark

WHO's Covaxin clearance delayed further: Sources

The active Covid cases in India dropped below the 3 lakh mark on Monday to touch 2,99,220, the lowest in 191 days, accounting for only 0.89 per cent of the total 33.68 million infections recorded so far, 26,041 of them in the past 24 hours ending at 8 am.

India also recorded 278 fresh deaths in 24 hours, the highest in Kerala at 165 and the second highest in Maharashtra at 36. As many as 19 of the 36 states and Union Territories, including Delhi, reported not a single death in 24 hours.

Kerala accounted for 15,651 infections in 24 hours, followed by 3,206 in Maharashtra, 1,674 in Tamil Nadu, 1,184 in Andhra Pradesh and 775 in Karnataka.

As many as 32.91 mn out of 33.68 mn infected recovered with a recovery rate of 97.98 per cent while the total deaths due to Covid in the country touched 4,47,194. The infections slumped from 28,326 on the previous day to 26,041 in 24 hours.

With 38.18 lakh people inoculated with the Covid vaccine in the past 24 hours, the national vaccination touched 86.02 crore while 56.44 crore have undergone tests, 11.65 lakh in 24 hours.

Daily positivity rate at 2.24 per cent was still less than 3 per cent for the last 28 days while the weekly positivity rate dropped to 1.94 per cent, which is less than 3 per cent for the last 28 days.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has further delayed the emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Covaxin, the Covid vaccine developed in India, as the global body has sent more technical queries to its manufacturer Bharat Biotech, according to sources.

This delay is likely to adversely affect international travel plans of Indians, especially students.

Without EUA, Covaxin will not be considered an accepted vaccine by most countries around the world. WHO's queries for Bharat Biotech comes despite the Hyderabad-based

drug maker asserting that it has submitted all data required for clearance.

The indication of a delay comes merely days after the Union Health Ministry hinted that the global body was likely to give its nod anytime soon.

"There is a procedure of submitting the documents for approval. WHO's emergency use authorisation to Covaxin is expected soon," Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State in the Health Ministry, had said last Friday, according to an ANI report.