India sees lowest daily Covid rise since April 2020; 1,270 cases in 24 hours

India on Monday reported its lowest daily rise in Covid cases since April 22, 2020. In the last 24 hours, 1,270 infections, the lowest one-day spike in almost two years, were logged. As per the data shared by the health ministry, the number of active cases fell to 15,859 or 0.04 per cent of the total cases. 31 Covid-linked deaths were reported since Sunday, taking the total number of lives lost to Covid to around 5.21 lakh since the start of the pandemic. The daily positivity rate stood at 0.29 per cent and the weekly positivity rate slipped to 0.26 per cent on Monday. The positivity rate in the 21-27 March week was 0.37 per cent.

Around 4.2 lakh vaccine doses were given yesterday, of which 96,881 doses were given to children in the 12-14 age group. Over 20,000 booster vaccine doses were also administered in the last 24 hours. 183.26 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far since the start of vaccine drive.

Meanwhile, the BA.2 variant of Covid-19, or ‘stealth’ Omicron is said to be driving surges in Europe and China. Infections in Shanghai, home to the Chinese headquarters of many international companies and the country’s largest port, have climbed in recent days despite repeated and expanded testing, a key tool in China’s intensive Covid Zero arsenal. The financial hub reported 2,676 new infections Saturday, reports said, up 18% from a day earlier, overtaking Jilin as the nation’s biggest Covid hotspot. 

The variant also accounted for 33 per cent of the new cases in the US last week. The White House’s deputy spokeswoman said Sunday she has tested positive for Covid-19 following a trip to Europe with president Joe Biden.