Appeals for ventilator beds, plasma flood social media
Over 1,500 succumb to virus in 24 hours as active cases surpass 1.8 million mark
Arecord single-day rise of 2,61,500 coronavirus infections has taken India’s total tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,47,88,109, while active cases have surpassed the 1.8-million mark, according to union health ministry data updated yesterday.
The death toll increased to 1,77,150 with a record 1,501 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Continuous increase
Registering a steady increase for the 39th day in a row, the active cases stand at 18,01,316, comprising 12.18 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has dropped to 86.62 per cent, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,28,09,643, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.20 per cent, the data stated.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 26,65,38,416 samples have been tested up to April 17 with 15,66,394 samples being tested on Saturday.
Vaccination record
India took only 92 days to reach the mark of 120 million vaccinations, the fastest country in the world to do so, the union health ministry said yesterday.
It is followed by the US which took 97 days and China which took 108 days.
The cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 120 million as part of the world’s largest vaccination drive, it said.
Eight states account for 59.5 per cent of the total doses given so far in the country.