India on Thursday registered a record 6,148 deaths due to Covid-19 after the Bihar government revised its data. The country’s toll rose to 3,59,676 since the outbreak of the pandemic in January 2020. On May 19, India had reported 4,529 deaths, its highest single-day toll, before Thursday.
Bihar added 3,951 backlog deaths to its toll on Wednesday. This pushed the number to 9,429. Till Tuesday, the health department had stated the number of deaths to be under 5,500. The Bihar government said these previously unaccounted deaths were of patients in private hospitals and home isolation and those who died of post-Covid complications.
Meanwhile, India’s total count of cases since the Covid-19 outbreak rose to 2,91,83,121 as it recorded 94,052 new infections in the last day. Thursday was the third consecutive day when India recorded less than 1 lakh cases.
The country’s count of active cases stood at 11,67,952. The number of recoveries in the country went up to 2,76,55,493, pushing the recovery rate to 94.77%.
Follow today’s live updates on the Covid-19 crisis here.
More than 20 lakh Covid-19 tests were done in India on Wednesday. The country’s total number of tests since the Covid-19 outbreak rose to 37.21 crore.
“While on one side testing has been enhanced across the country, a continued decline in weekly case positivity is noticed,” the health ministry said. “Weekly positivity rate is currently at 5.43% while the daily positivity rate stands at 4.69% today [Thursday]. It has remained less than 10% for 17 consecutive days now.”
The government also released Covid-19 treatment guidelines for children. It recommended avoiding the use of remdesivir and advised health professionals to make rational use of CT scans.
The health ministry said that 24.27 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country since the beginning of the inoculation drive in January. As many as 33 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday alone.
The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday proposed carrying out round-the-clock Covid-19 vaccination to achieve herd immunity against the infection so that the country can regain its economic growth momentum.
In the monthly report published by the Department of Economic Affairs, the ministry said rapid vaccination was key to reviving investment and consumption cycles in the coming fiscal quarters.
Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 17.40 crore people and killed more than 37.49 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!