India headed toward 5 million Covid-19 cases
Following a single-day spike of 83,809 fresh Covid-19 cases, India's sharply increasing caseload has now hit 4.93 million infections.
India continues to suffer sharp surges in new Covid-19 cases as the ministry of health announced on Tuesday that more than 83,000 new infections have been reported over the past 24 hours, sending the country's case tally past 4.9 million.
The second worst-hit country in the pandemic currently has 990,061 active cases, whereas 3.86 million people out of those who have contracted the virus have recovered, putting India as first on the list of the highest number of recoveries globally after surpassing Brazil.
India registers 1,054 new coronavirus deaths
India has also witnessed 1,054 new coronavirus-related deaths in the past 24 hours, which raises the country's Covid-19 death toll to 80,776.
Despite the uncontrollable daily surges, India's only silver lining is considered to be the constantly declining fatality rate, which has dropped down to 1.64%, in addition to its recovery rate that is currently around 78%; a relatively good rate given that the country is among the worst-hit nations in the pandemic.
India targets vaccine drive focusing on elderly and vulnerable
As part of its efforts to curb the further spread of the virus and contain its consequences, the Indian government is now considering granting an emergency authorization for a Covid-19 vaccine targeting the elderly and vulnerable.
“If there is a consensus we may go ahead with it, especially in the case of senior citizens and people working in high-risk settings,” health minister Harsh Vardhan had said.