India's single-day Covid-19 cases see marginal decrease to 15,906 infections

Active cases fell by 1,134 and stood at 172,594 in the same period, according to data released by the health ministry at 8am.

India's single-day Covid-19 cases on Sunday saw a marginal decrease to 15,906 infections. The nationwide deaths also saw a further fall with 561 fatalities, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

The Centre on Saturday urged the states and Union territories to focus on those beneficiaries waiting for their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine after their interval period is over. (Reuters File Photo )

Active cases fell by 1,134 and stood at 172,594 in the same period, according to data released by the health ministry at 8am. Active cases constitute 0.51% of total cases while the national Covid-19 recovery rate stood at 98.17%, the Union health ministry said.

As many as 13,40,158 Covid-19 samples were tested on Saturday, taking the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted so far to 59,97,71,320. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 33,548,605 while the case fatality rate stood at 1.33%, it said.

The Centre on Saturday urged the states and Union territories to focus on those beneficiaries waiting for their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine after their interval period is over.

The states and UTs were also urged to improve the momentum of vaccination and accelerate its coverage as the country moves forward to vaccinate all the eligible population by end of the year under the nationwide coronavirus vaccination drive. "So far, 71.24 crore first doses, covering 76% of the eligible population, and 30.06 crore second doses, covering 32% of the eligible population, have been administered the Covid-19 vaccines," the health ministry said in a statement.

In a letter to states and UTs, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued last month for curbing any spike in Covid-19 cases must be followed. "No mass gathering should be allowed in areas identified as containment zones and in districts reporting more than 5 per cent Covid-19 test confirmation rates," Bhushan said in the letter.