India reported 2,64,202 coronavirus cases on Friday morning, taking the overall tally to 3,65,82,129 since the pandemic began in the country in January 2020. The number of cases was 6.78% more than Thursday’s count of 2,47,417 cases.
The active cases increased by 1,54,542, taking the total count to 12,72,073. The daily positivity rate stood at 14.78%.
The toll increased to 4,85,350 after 315 patients died over the last 24 hours.
As many as 1,09,345 people recovered from the disease on Friday, taking the total to 3,48,24,706. The recovery rate stood at 95.20%.
Cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus rose to 5,753 from Thursday’s tally of 5,488 infections. The new strain is now present in all 28 states.
The single-day case count in Delhi, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka crossed the 20,000-mark on Thursday.
The Capital reported 28,867 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day infection count recorded in the city since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. With this, Delhi’s total case count climbed to 16,46,583. The test positivity rate increased to 29.21% from Wednesday’s 26.22%.
In West Bengal, 23,467 people tested positive for the coronavirus disease and 26 died. With this, the infection count climbed to 18,41,052 and the toll stood at 19,621.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee told Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a virtual meeting that the state was prepared to tackle the rise in cases that may occur because of the ongoing festivities, PTI reported. West Bengal is hosting the Gangasagar Mela where lakhs of pilgrims are expected to congregate on Friday.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu registered 20,911 new Covid-19 cases. With this, the infection tally in the state climbed to 28,68,500. The toll climbed by 25 to 36,930. There are 1,03,610 active cases in the state.
Karnataka reported 25,005 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the infection tally in the state to 31,24,524. The toll climbed by eight to 38,397. The positivity rate for the day stood at 12.39%. There are 1,15,733 active cases in the state. Of the 25,005 new cases, 18,374 have been reported from the state capital Bengaluru alone.
WHO approves new Covid-19 treatments
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization on Friday approved two new drugs to treat Covid-19.
The health body experts in the British medical journal, the BMJ, said the survival rate among patients improved when treated with arthritis drug baricitinib along with corticosteroids. It also reduced need for ventilators.
The experts also recommended sotrovimab, a synthetic antibody treatment for patients with comorbidities.
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