New Delhi: India on Friday reported 2,35,532 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, around 16,000 cases lesser than the tally on Thursday. The positivity rate also showed a decline from 15.88 percent on Thursday to 13.39 percent on Friday. The COVID-19 tallies which have come from different state health departments till 10 pm on Saturday indicate that the country has started to bend the COVID-19 curve and cases have started to plateau. However, some states like West Bengal, Sikkim, and Chattisgarh recorded a marginal increase in new COVID-19 infections.
Delhi on Saturday reported 4,483 new COVID-19 cases and a positivity rate of 7.41 percent. The city has also reported 28 deaths linked to the virus in the last 24 hours.
The national capital's case count has now increased to 18,23,815 and the death toll to 25,797. The number of COVID-19 tests conducted a day ago was 60,532. The daily number of cases in Delhi has been on the decline after the record high of 28,867 on January 13. The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 percent on January 14, the highest during the ongoing third wave of the pandemic. It took just 10 days for daily cases to drop below the 10,000 mark.
As the Delhi government along with the DDMA started to relax many Covid restrictions that were in place in the city, including the weekend curfew, hundreds of gym owners on Saturday took out a protest march to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence to oppose the DDMA's decision to keep fitness centers closed even as the number of Covid cases have come down in the city.
The COVID-19 related deaths in Karnataka increased from 50 on Friday to 70 on Saturday while there were 33,337 fresh COVID-19 infections. The caseload now stands at 37,57,031 and the fatalities at 38,874. Bengaluru Urban district was a major contributor to the fresh COVID-19 cases, registering 16,586 infections and 13 deaths.
Seeing the drop in cases, the Karnataka government has decided to relax some Covid restrictions in the state. The night curfew will be withdrawn in the state, schools and colleges in Bengaluru will reopen from January 31, announced the State government on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu on Saturday added 24,418 to the list of infections and they included four infected returnees from overseas. This pushed the tally to 33,03,702 till date as the State continued to report a decline in new Covid-19 cases. As many as 46 people succumbed to the contagion in the last 24 hours taking the death toll to 37,506 till date.
Meanwhile, MDMK general secretary Vaiko has tested positive for COVID-19 and he has isolated himself at his residence.
Andhra Pradesh's COVID-19 tally on the other hand went up to 22,60,181 as 11,573 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours ending 9 AM on Saturday. The total recoveries increased to 21,30,162 after 9,445 more people got cured of the infection.
Odisha reported 15 more COVID-19 fatalities on Saturday, the highest in nearly five months. The single-day infections in the state, however, dipped to 4,842. The death toll mounted to 8,575 and the coronavirus tally rose to 12,41,068 in the state.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 4,175 fresh COVID cases, 7,107 recoveries, and five deaths in the last 24 hours. Ladakh's COVID-19 caseload increased to 25,536 on Saturday as 188 more people tested positive for the virus; 125 were reported from Leh district and 63 from Kargil district. The union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported more COVID-19 recoveries than fresh cases, as 95 patients recuperated from the disease while 66 fresh infections pushed the tally to 9,690.
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West Bengal's COVID-19 tally, however, rose to 19,90,179 on Saturday as 3,512 people tested positive for the infection, 293 less than the previous day.
Kerala reported a slight dip in cases as the state logged 50,812 new infections and eight COVID-19-related deaths on Saturday. The infection count now stands at 59,31,945 and the death toll to 53,191. The state reported 54,537 COVID-19 cases on Friday whereas the cases stood at 51,739 on Thursday.
Maharashtra on Saturday reported 27,971 new coronavirus positive cases, including 85 Omicron infections, and 61 deaths related to the virus. The overall caseload in the state mounted to 76,83,525 and the death toll to 1,42,522. The financial capital, Mumbai on Saturday reported 1,411 fresh COVID-19 cases and 11 fatalities due to the coronavirus infection, taking the tally to 10,44,470 and the toll to 16,602. Pune district in Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 9,769 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally to 13,98,456.
For the first time in nearly the last two weeks, Gujarat on Saturday reported less than 12,000 new COVID-19 cases while 33 patients died, the highest during the third wave, the health department said.
With 11,974 new cases, the tally of infections mounted to 11,44,585 in the state and the death toll to 10,408.
The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh stood at 9,50,134 on Saturday after the detection of 8,678 cases, while the deaths of five patients in the last 24 hours took the toll to 10,607.
Sikkim's COVID-19 tally rose to 37,972 on Saturday as 156 people tested positive for the infection, nine less than the previous day. There is still a need to be vigilant and not lower the guard even though the active cases of COVID-19 in most of the states and the positivity rate have shown a fall in the last two weeks, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in an interaction with five eastern states on Saturday.
Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 tally rose to 11,20,797 on Saturday with the addition of 3,783 infections, while the death toll mounted to 13,824 after 15 patients succumbed to the viral infection.
Meanwhile according to the Union Health Ministry, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 165.6 crore with more than 53 lakh vaccine doses administered on Saturday.
(With agency inputs)
