Covid-19: Daily cases in India below 2,000-mark for 5th day, positivity rate slips to 0.29 per cent

Covid-19: The daily positivity rate has dropped to 0.29 per cent and the weekly positivity rate slipped to 0.35 per cent on Thursday as India registered 1,938 new cases.

India on Thursday registered less than 2,000 new Covid cases in 24 hours for a fifth consecutive day, even as several countries witnessed a worrying surge in caseloads. The health ministry said 1,938 new Covid-19 cases had been reported and that the active caseload had now dropped below the 22,500-mark, or 0.05 per cent of the nation's cumulative caseload.

A health worker collects swab samples for Covid-19 test at the district hospital in Noida’s Sector 30 on Saturday. (Sunil Ghosh /HT)

Over the last 24 hours, 67 Covid-related deaths were also registered, taking the total number of lives lost to around 5,16,672. The death rate remains at 1.20 per cent.

As many as 2,531 people were said to have 'recovered' from the infection in the last 24 hours. The national 'recovery rate' is now 98.75 per cent.

The daily positivity rate has dropped to 0.29 per cent and the weekly positivity rate slipped to 0.35 per cent on Thursday. On Monday, the daily positivity rate stood at 0.40 per cent on Monday.

182.23 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive, of which, 31.8 lakh were administered yesterday. 7.2 lakh children between the age group of 12-14 have also received their first dose since the drive opened for children.

Meanwhile, several nations are facing a spike in the number of daily Covid-19 cases accelerated by the emergence of the more-transmissible BA.2 omicron strain. In Europe, France, UK and Germany are witnessing a fresh surge.

China has stepped up its coronavirus restrictions in a bid to tackle the spread of the disease. The Chinese mainland reported 2,010 locally transmitted Covid-19 cases on Thursday, ANI reported quoting the National Health Commission.

About one-in-three Covid-19 cases in the United States are now caused by the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant of the coronavirus.