Recoveries outnumber new Covid cases; active cases down by 31,091

For the fourth time in the last five days, India's daily COVID-19 recoveries outnumbered new cases, taking the total recoveries to 2,04,32,898, the Union health ministry said on Saturday.

The number of people who recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours was 3,53,299, while the number of new cases recorded in the same period was 3,26,098, according to ministry data updated at 8 am.

The national recovery rate stands at 83.83 per cent, it said.

"It (the daily recoveries) outnumbers India's daily new COVID-19 cases for the fourth time in the last five days. Ten states account for 70.49 per cent of the new recoveries," the ministry said.

The data showed that Maharashtra recorded the highest number of recoveries at 53,249 followed by Karnataka (35,879), Kerala (31,319), Uttar Pradesh (26,179), Tamil Nadu (20,037), Andhra Pradesh (19,177), West Bengal (19,131), Gujarat (15,365), Haryana (14,577) and Delhi (14,140).

The total tally of cases in the country stands at 2,43,72,907, while 3,890 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,66,207, the ministry said.

It said that the number of active cases has decreased to 36,73,802 and comprises 15.07 per cent of the total infections. There has been a net decline of 31,091 in the number of active cases in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

The data showed that 11 states cumulatively account for 77.26 per cent of India's total active cases.

Karnataka has the highest active cases at 5,98,625, followed by Maharashtra (5,21,683), Kerala (4,42,550), Rajasthan (2,12,753), Andhra Pradesh (2,03,787), Tamil Nadu (1,95,339), Uttar Pradesh (1,93,815), West Bengal (1,31,792), Gujarat (1,17,373), Chhattisgarh (1,15,964) and Madhya Pradesh (1,04,444).

The national mortality rate currently stands at 1.09 per cent, the ministry said, adding that the 3,890 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours.

Ten states account for 72.19 per cent of the new deaths and Maharashtra has the highest number of fatalities at 695 followed by Karnataka with 373 fresh deaths, the data showed.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 18 crore, the ministry said.

It said 18,04,57,579 vaccine doses have been administered through 26,02,435 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am.

These include 96,27,650 health care workers (HCWs) who have taken their first dose and 66,22,040 HCWs who have taken the second dose, and 1,43,65,871 front line workers (FLWs) who have taken their first dose and 81,49,613 FLWs who have taken their second dose.

The ministry said 42,58,756 beneficiaries in the 18-45 age group have taken the first dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive against COVID-19 with 3,28,216 beneficiaries receiving their first dose in the last 24 hours.

In the 45-60 age group, 5,68,05,772 people have received their first dose while 87,56,313 beneficiaries have got their second dose, and among beneficiaries above 60 years of age, 5,43,17,646 have got their first dose while 1,75,53,918 have taken their second dose.

More than 11 lakh vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

It said that as on Day-119 of the vaccination drive (May 14), 11,03,625 vaccine doses were given. Across 11,628 sessions, 6,29,445 beneficiaries were vaccinated with the first dose and 4,74,180 beneficiaries received their second dose.

The Centre also said that cumulatively, 10,796 oxygen concentrators; 12,269 oxygen cylinders; 19 oxygen generation plants; 6,497 ventilators/Bi-PAP and nearly 4.2L remdesivir vials have been delivered or dispatched through road and air so far.