India's daily Covid-19 deaths rise by 853, toll crosses 400,000
The fresh Covid-19 cases have taken India's cumulative tally of infections to 30,458,251
India on Friday recorded 46,617 fresh cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), registering less than 50,000 infections for five consecutive days, data from the Union health ministry showed.
The fresh Covid-19 cases have taken India's cumulative tally of infections to 30,458,251.
In the last 24 hours, India also recorded 853 deaths. So far, 400,312 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in the country.
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Active cases of Covid-19 in the country continued to decline and were logged at 509,637 on Friday. The cumulative recoveries in the country have also continued to outnumber the daily new infections for 50 days in a row. On Friday, at least 59,384 people recovered, taking the national recovery rate to 96.97%.
Declining cases, the health ministry said, are a result of sustained and collaborative efforts by the Centre and the states and Union territories.
According to the data reviewed by HT, the death toll from the country's brutal second wave appears to be significantly higher than what official numbers suggest. Even as the pandemic has been in the country for over a year, more than 60% of all reported deaths have been recorded in just the last four months – or during the second wave of infections, data showed.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) chief Dr Randeep Guleria said on Thursday the country may be able to avoid the next wave of Covid-19 if people follow Covid-19 safety protocols and if a large chunk of the population is vaccinated against the disease. "That depends on how we behave, if we are careful and we have a good vaccination coverage, then the third wave may not come, or it will be very little," Dr Guleria said.
The senior doctor that at this stage, there is not much data available on the Delta plus variant to suggest that it is more infective or has a higher rate of mortality. "There isn't much data on Delta plus variant to suggest it's more infectious, causing more deaths, or has developed significant immune escape mechanism. But if we follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated, we'll be safe against any of emerging variants," Dr Guleria said.
