17% dip in average fresh Covid cases since peak in May: Health ministry

The number of COVID-19 cases has declined continuously since India reported its peak of the second wave on May 7, an Union Health Ministry official said on Tuesday.

"With continued efforts of containment, there has been a constant decline in cases since India reported a peak on May 7, including a progressive decrease in cases in districts. Recovery rate stands at 96.9 per cent", the Joint Secretary of Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said.

Addressing a media briefing Agarwal said: "17 per cent decrease in the average new cases has been noticed and now only 111 districts in India report over 100 COVID-19 cases daily. There has been a noticeable reduction in the cases ever since," he added.

Agarwal also informed that presently, only 5.5 lakh active cases have been reported, which means that the spread of infection is less, and therefore, the strain on healthcare is also less.

Talking of COVID-19 testing for early detection of the spread of infection, he added that approximately 21 lakh samples were tested daily during the peak of the second wave, and even now after the decline in the daily number of Covid cases, approximately 18 lakh samples are being tested daily.

Elaborating on the Covid vaccination status of the country, he said, "A total of 27.27crore people have been covered with the first dose of vaccine, whereas 5.84 crore people have been covered with the second dose of the vaccine."

Collectively, 33.11 crore people have been vaccinated in India so far.

The Union Health Ministry added that India has taken a distinct lead in the total vaccine doses administered in the world. "Surpassing the US, India took 163 days to reach the 32 crore benchmark. The US took 193 days," the ministry added.

The Union Health Ministry further added that a total of 51 Delta plus variant cases reported in India.

In regard to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, Dr VK Paul, Member-Health of Niti Aayog said, "New drug permission has been granted to Moderna, the first internationally developed vaccine. This new drug permission is for restricted use."

"There are four vaccines now Covaxin, Covishield, SputnikV and Moderna. We will soon close the deal on Pfizer as well," he added.

Dr Paul also mentioned that all four vaccines (Covaxin, Covishield, SputnikV, and Moderna) are safe for lactating mothers and that they have no association with infertility. "Advisory for pregnant women with regards to vaccination will be released soon. The vaccine is safe for pregnant women, and the Health Ministry is examining it further," he said.