Covid in India: Deaths near grim milestone of 400,000, fresh cases fall further

India on Saturday recorded as many as 48,698 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 1,183 new deaths, according to the Union health ministry dashboard at 8am. With this, the country's total infection tally was pushed to 30,183,143 and the death toll neared the grim milestone of 400,000.

The health ministry data further showed that the number of active cases declined to 595,565, or 2.03% of the total cases and the total number of recoveries stood at 29,193,085, with 64,818 people being discharged in the last 24 hours. The total number of tests done during the previous day was 17,45,809.

Meanwhile, the cumulative vaccinations against Covid-19 reached 31,50,45,926, with 61,19,169 people being inoculated on Saturday.

As the country comes out of the deadly second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, speculations regarding the third wave led by various mutations of the virus including the Delta Plus, which has been found in 12 states so far, are rife.

Out of the total 51 cases of Delta Plus in the country, 22 were reported in Maharashtra, followed by nine in Tamil Nadu, seven in Madhya Pradesh, three in Kerala, two each in Punjab and Gujarat, and one case each in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Karnataka.

However, the Centre has said that the new variant is very limited and it cannot be said that it is showing an upward trend.

"There are nearly 50 cases that are found in 12 districts and this has happened in the last three months. It cannot be said that in any district or state it is showing an increasing trend. Till the time we don't correlate this we will not say this is a rising trend because its mutations are the same as Delta variant," Sujeet Singh, the director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said during a health ministry briefing on Friday.