India recorded 12,516 new coronavirus cases on Friday morning, pushing the overall tally of infections to 3,44,14,186 since the pandemic began in January last year. The number of new cases was 4.39% lower than Thursday’s count of 13,091.

India’s toll rose to 4,62,690 as it recorded 501 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

The number of active cases in the country stood at 1,37,416 – the lowest in nearly nine months, according to the health ministry.

The number of recoveries in India rose by 13,155 to 3,38,14,080. The country’s Covid-19 recovery rate stood at 98.26% – the highest since March last year, according to the government.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

India has administered more than 110.79 crore vaccine doses since the inoculation drive began in January. Of these, over 53.81 lakh doses were administered on Thursday.

Covaxin, one of the vaccines being used in India’s inoculation drive, has a 77.8% efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19 infection, showed a study published in medical journal The Lancet on Thursday.

State news

  • The Maharashtra government on Thursday requested the Centre to reduce the gap between two doses of coronavirus vaccines, the Hindustan Times reported. Currently, a gap of 84 days is observed between the first and the second doses of Covaxin and Covishield.
  • Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday said the government does not want to rush into administering Covid-19 vaccines to children, PTI reported. Currently, Zydus Cadila’s Covid vaccine has been approved for citizens aged 12 and above.
  • A private school in Hyderabad’s Banjara Hills area shut offline classes after a student tested positive for coronavirus, The Times of India reported. Some parents claimed that several students had coronavirus-related symptoms.

Global news

  • Germany registered a record 50,196 new cases on Thursday, The Guardian reported. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country’s vaccination rate is not high enough to stop the infection from spreading fast. At least 67% of the Germany’s population is fully vaccinated.
  • Japan on Friday said that there was an urgent need to increase hospital beds and medical resources as coronavirus infections could rise during the winter, Reuters reported. The Japanese government also said that it will start administering vaccine booster shots to all citizens from December.
  • In China, the northeastern port city of Dalian reported a growing cluster of coronavirus cases, Reuters reported on Friday. After 52 locally-transmitted cases were recorded in the city, the authorities restricted the outbound travel, stopped offline school classes and closed cultural venues.
  • The coronavirus has infected over 25.19 crore people across the world and caused more than 50.79 lakh deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University.