On Saturday, India reported 39,097 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours as the country’s tally rose to 3,13,32,159 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The number was 10.62% higher than 35,342 cases recorded on Friday.
The toll rose to 4,20,016 with 546 more deaths since Friday. The number of active cases went up by 3,464 to 4,08,977. The daily active case count has seen an increase in three of the last four days. A total of 3,05,03,166 patients have recovered from the disease so far.
The Centre on Friday said that even though the Delta variant of the coronavirus has shown evidences of being more transmissible, it cannot be speculated that the strain itself could lead to a third wave of the pandemic in the country, PTI reported.
Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said that the rise in cases is also dependent on other factors like the section of population susceptible to the infection, and a host of pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical interventions like vaccination.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that his government was monitoring the situation in states where schools are being reopened to take a decision in this regard in the national Capital, the Hindustan Times reported. He added that ideally schools should be opened only after all citizens have been vaccinated. Earlier this month too, Kejriwal had said that the schools in the city will be allowed to open only after the vaccination process is completed.
Meanwhile, the European Medicines Agency on Friday approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Moderna for children aged 12 to 17 years. The vaccine is already authorised for use in the European Union among beneficiaries aged 18 and above.
Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected more than 19.31 crore people and killed over 41.43 lakh in the world since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!