India reports lowest daily Covid-19 cases at 19,556 since July

India recorded 19,556 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the lowest daily rise since July, and 301 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry’s data showed on Tuesday morning. India’s active caseload has also dropped to 292,518, the lowest in 162 days. The active cases of the coronavirus disease were 301,609 on July 13.

India’s Covid-19 tally now stands at 10,075,116 with 9,636,487 recoveries and 146,111 deaths so far, according to the health ministry’s coronavirus dashboard at 8am. The new recoveries have taken the recovery rate to 95.64% on Tuesday. The ministry has said that the daily new recoveries recorded in the country have been more than the daily cases registered since the last 24 days. The gap between recovered and active cases presently stands at 9,343,969.

On Monday, 71.61% of the new recovered cases were from 10 states and Union territories. Kerala had reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries with 4,471 recoveries, 2,627 people recovered in West Bengal followed by 2,064  in Maharashtra.

Kerala had reported the highest daily new cases at 5,711 on Monday and was followed by Maharashtra with 3,811 infections and West Bengal with 1,978 new cases. And, 79.20% of the new cases were from 10 states and Union territories, according to the health ministry.

Again, 10 states and Union territories accounted for 81.38% of the 333 new deaths on Monday. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 98, West Bengal and Kerala followed with 40 and 30 daily deaths, respectively. “India has one of the lowest deaths/mn population globally (105.7). Focussed measures including targeted testing, early identification, timely isolation & prompt hospitalization & Standard Treatment Protocol have ensured that daily fatalities are under 400,” the health ministry had said.

More than 77.34 million people have been reported to be infected by the coronavirus globally and 1,701,822 have died, according to a the Covid-19 tally of Johns Hopkins University.

Several countries across the world are scrambling to respond to a new strain of the coronavirus, prompting them to suspend travel links with the UK. More than two dozen countries from India to Argentina suspended flight from the UK.

The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) emergencies chief Michael Ryan tried to temper the alarm by stressing the situation was not “out of control”, shortly after a British minister used those exact words to describe the new spread of the new variant. Experts say there is no evidence the UK variant of the virus -- one of several mutations -- is more lethal or will affect the impact of vaccines and it may be up to 70% more transmissible, according to early data.