India on Sunday recorded 8,774 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the overall tally of infections to 3,45,72,523 since the pandemic began in January last year. The number of new cases was 5.19% lower than Saturday’s count of 8,318 cases.

The toll rose to 4,68,554 as the country recorded 621 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

The number of active coronavirus cases in the country currently stands at 1,06,691, and the country’s active caseload decreased by 1,328.

A total of 3,39,98,278 people have recovered from coronavirus in the country so far. The recovery rate is currently 98.34%, the highest since March 2020, according to the government.

Till now, India has administered 121.94 doses of the coronavirus vaccine. Of these, more than 82 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Friday.

India updates

  • The Karnataka government on Saturday said that it will test passengers  arriving from South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong for coronavirus amid growing concerns over the new Omicron variant of the virus. Those who test positive will be placed in 10-day quarantine. 
  • Twenty-five more students tested positive for coronavirus at SDM College Medical Sciences and Hospital in Karnataka, taking the total number of infections detected there to 306, India Today reported. Most of the students are fully vaccinated.

Global updates

  • Cases of the Omicron strain of the coronavirus were reported in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and the Czech Republic on Saturday, a day after it was declared a variant of concern by the World Health Organization.
  • The coronavirus has infected over 26.10 crore people across the world and caused over 51.94 lakh deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.