India on Monday registered 32,937 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally to 3,22,25,513 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The new cases were 8.71% lower than Sunday’s count of 36,083.

The country’s toll rose to 4,31,642 with 417 more deaths. The number of active cases declined by 3,389 to 3,81,947, while 3,14,11,924 patients have recovered from the disease. The national recovery rate stood at 97.48% – the highest since March last year – the health ministry said.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Other updates

  • Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reached Kerala on Monday afternoon to review the pandemic situation in the state, PTI reported. Mandaviya is expected to meet Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, state Health Minister Veena George and other officials involved in Covid-19 management. Kerala has been reporting the highest number of daily cases among all the states. On Sunday, the positivity rate in Kerala stood at 15.11%.
  • Over 2.89 crore unutilised vaccine doses are currently available with the states, Union Territories and private hospitals, the Union health ministry said. The Centre said that it has provided a total of 56.81 crore vaccine doses to states and Union Territories till Monday.
  • Physical classes in schools resumed in several states on Monday, including in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. While schools in Bihar resumed for classes 1 to 8, physical classes in Uttar Pradesh resumed for classes 9 to 12, ANI reported.
  • Public gardens, playgrounds and beaches in Mumbai will remain open from 6 am to 10 pm from Monday as the new set of relaxed guidelines kick in, PTI reported, citing the city’s Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal.

Global updates

  • New coronavirus infections in China declined for a sixth straight day on Monday, Reuters reported, citing official data. The country was earlier facing a fresh surge of cases for the first time since January.
  • A record number of children were hospitalised due to Covid-19 in the United States amid a surge of the virus driven by the Delta variant, Al-Jazeera reported. On Saturday, a total of 1,902 children were admitted to hospitals, accounting for about 2.4% of the country’s total hospitalisations.
  • In Australia, another country facing a rise in cases, lockdowns have been extended in capital Canberra and the state of Victoria, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
  • Globally, Covid-19 has infected over 20.71 crore people and led to more than 43.61 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.