India recorded 30,006 new cases on Saturday, taking the country’s tally to 98,26,775, data from the health ministry showed. For 13 consecutive days, India has reported less than 40,000 new cases. New infections have dropped steadily since hitting a peak in September.
Deaths rose by 442, with the total now at 1,42,628. The number of active cases stood at 3,59,819, while 93,24,328 people have recovered from the infection so far. The recovery rate has improved to 94.88%, and the fatality rate has further declined to 1.45%.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research said that it has tested 15,26,97,399 coronavirus samples so far, including 10,65,176 on Friday.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 7.01 crore people and killed over 15.90 lakh, according to the Johns Hopkins University. Over 4.48 crore people have recovered from the infection.
The World Health Organization on Friday announced that nearly 1 billion doses of leading vaccine candidates had been secured as part of the COVAX programme to provide vaccines for low-and middle-income countries. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 189 countries were participating in the programme.
Meanwhile, the United States Food and Drug Administration said it has authorised the use of Pfizer vaccine on Friday, a crucial point in the country where the pandemic has killed more than 2.90 lakh Americans.
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