New Delhi: As the Covid-19 vaccination drive initiated by the central government completed one year today, the Home Ministry declared that so far the nation has administered a total of 156.76 crore vaccines while about 92 per cent of the total population of India has received at least one dose of vaccination.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted a tweet to mark the completion of the vaccination drive that began on January 16 last year. "Today we mark one year of Vaccine Drive. I salute each and every individual who is associated with the vaccination drive. Our vaccination programme has added great strength to the fight against COVID-19. It has led to saving lives and thus protecting livelihoods," the Prime Minister said in his tweet. Meanwhile, the country had seen a positive sign as the total number of cases reported yesterday had shown a decrease in the positivity rate.
Some states across the country modified the covid protocols in view of a possible third wave. Telangana extended holidays for educational institutions until January 30, while Uttar Pradesh has ordered the schools to be entirely shut down until the end of the month. On the other hand, AIIMS Bhubaneshwar decided to stop the walk-in services on its premises starting from Monday until further notice.
West Bengal registered 14,938 fresh cases and 36 deaths today; Active cases rise to 1,60,305. Positivity rate at 27.73%
41,327 new cases and 29 deaths were reported in Maharashtra today, while the active caseload in the state stands at 2,65,346. Additionally, 8 Omicron infections were reported in the state today, taking the case tally to 1,738.
State capital Mumbai reported 7,895 new cases and 11 deaths today with the active cases tally at 60,371.
Meanwhile, 63 police personnel tested positive for COVID and one died in the last 24 hours, as informed by the Mumbai Police who registered concern over the increasing number of Covid positive police officials in the state every day.
The state government also said that the international passengers arriving from UAE including Dubai in Mumbai are now exempted from compulsorily 7-day home quarantine and the RT-PCR on arrival.
National capital Delhi reported 18,286 new cases and 28 deaths in the last 24 hours while the active cases showed a decline with the tally at 89,819. The positivity rate was recorded at 27.87% today.
Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, "Cases have started reducing for the past 3 days, but we will look at a substantial decrease for the next 3-4 days. The positivity rate will reduce with time as patients admitted to hospitals are stagnant. Most of the deaths were due to comorbidities."
Tamil Nadu logged 23,975 fresh cases, pushing active cases in the state to 1.42 lakh.
Chennai's test positivity rate climbed to 30.0 per cent, the highest in Tamil Nadu.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government on Sunday declared a holiday till January 31 for school students of standards 10 to 12, in the wake of surging COVID cases.
Minister TM Anbarasan said that an arrangement of 950 beds with oxygen support has been done in the Chennai trade center to accommodate the Covid19 patients.
Gujarat reported 10,150 fresh COVID cases, 6,096 recoveries and 8 deaths on Sunday, while Goa reported 3,232 new cases and 7 deaths with its active caseload at 21,381.
Chandigarh reported 1,358 new cases today, with active cases at 9,203 and the positivity rate at 22.49% in the state.
Kerala, on the other hand, reported 18,123 new COVID19 cases and 8 deaths today, with its active caseload standing at 1,03,864. Andhra Pradesh reported 4,570 new cases with the current tally at 26, 770. Meanwhile, Karnataka reported 34,047 new cases and 13 deaths.
Punjab recorded 7,396 new cases and 13 deaths, with its positivity rate at 20.76% and active caseload at 41,250 today. Assam on the other hand reported 2,709 new cases, 5 deaths, and 1,223 recoveries with the active caseload at 19,258.
Meanwhile, Telangana recorded 2,047 new cases and took the tally to 7,09,209. The death toll rose to 4,057 with three more fatalities today.
Rajasthan recorded 9,669 fresh cases and six more deaths, according to health department data. While Uttar Pradesh reported 17,185 fresh cases that pushed its active infection tally to 1,034,74, 10 more fatalities raised the death toll to 22,963.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 3,499 fresh CASES, taking the infection count to 3,59,373, while six deaths were also reported in the past 24 hours, officials said. Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 count reached 10,59,716 TODAY, with the addition of 3,963 cases, while seven deaths took the toll to 13,654, as informed by an official.