India records 78 Covid-19 deaths in a day, lowest in months; toll at 154,996

The country’s Covid-19 caseload stands at 1,08,26,363 and its death toll is now at 154,996, according to the health ministry’s dashboard.

A single-day rise of 12,059 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 78 related fatalities pushed India's tally to 10,826,363 and its death toll to 154,996, the Union ministry of health and family welfare’s data showed on Sunday morning. The number of daily deaths between Saturday and Sunday morning has been lowest in months and that of active cases of Covid-19 at 148,766 showed a consistent downward slide, according to the health ministry’s dashboard.

A man cycles past a graffiti-covered wall amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease on a street in Navi Mumbai in this file photo. (Reuters)

According to the health ministry, the 78 fatalities between Saturday and Sunday morning include 25 deaths from Maharashtra, 16 from Kerala, five from Punjab and four each from Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Out of the 154,996 deaths across the country, 51,280 have been reported from Maharashtra, 12,382 from Tamil Nadu, 12,233 from Karnataka, 10,877 from Delhi, 10,202 from West Bengal, 8,686 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,159 from Andhra Pradesh, it said.

The dashboard at 8am also showed that 10,522,601 people have recovered so far as 11,805 patients of the coronavirus disease were either cured or discharged in the last 24 hours. This has taken the national recovery rate to 97.19%, according to the health ministry. The ministry also said that 5,775,322 people have been vaccinated to date.

The health ministry had on Saturday urged states and Union territories to exponentially increase the pace of vaccination and schedule the inoculation of all healthcare workers at least once before February 20. Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan also asked the states and Union territories to ensure that beneficiaries of the inaugural vaccination day on January 16 should start getting a second dose on February 13.

"The state health secretaries were asked to analyze the daily variation in the number of average vaccinations and take necessary steps to increase them. States/UTs were advised to ensure 100 per cent saturation of people who have already been registered on Co-Win digital platform. They were also asked to organise simultaneous vaccination sessions/day in the health facility wherever possible. Each state/UT was advised to devise a state-specific strategy to achieve this target," the health ministry said.

The failure of potential beneficiaries to get vaccinated in the mop-up round would automatically push them to age-appropriate vaccination category, the ministry said.

(With agency inputs)