India registered 11,850 new coronavirus cases and 555 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the nationwide Covid death toll to 4,63,245, the Union Health Ministry said in its latest update on Saturday.
The recovery of 12,403 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 3,38,26,483. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.26 per cent, thehighest since March 2020, according to the Ministry update.
The active caseload stands at 1,36,308, which is the lowest in 274 days. Active cases account for 0.40 per cent of the country's total positive cases, the lowest since March 2020. Also in the same period, a total of 12,66,589 tests were conducted across the country.
Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate at 1.05 per cent has remained less than 2 per cent for the last 50 days now. The daily positivity rate at 0.94 per cent has also remained below 2 per cent for last 40 days and less than 3 per cent for 75 consecutive days now.
With the administration of 58,42,530 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's Covid inoculation coverage has reached 111.40 crore as of Saturday morning. This has been achieved through 1,14,02,023 in sessions. India has so far conducted over 62.23 crore cumulative tests.
Active Covid cases increase in Rajasthan
The number of active Covid-19 cases in Rajasthan has increased to 61, after a total of 17 fresh infections were reported in the state in the last 24 hours, with 10 of them in Jaipur, health authorities said on Saturday.
Besides Jaipur, the new cases were registered in Barmer (four), Ajmer (two) and Jodhpur (one). This is the first time in over three months that the number of new cases in the state capital was in double digits, the authorities said.
The figure is a cause of concern as all schools and colleges in Jaipur will start in-person classes with 100 per cent occupancy from November 15 onwards.
Also, an international cricket match between India and New Zealand will be held on November 17 at the SMS Stadium where again 100 per cent occupancy has been permitted. But only fully vaccinated spectators will be allowed.
Follow Covid protocol: Gehlot
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has warned people to continue following Covid protocols in the wake of the rising cases.
In an earlier statement on October 25, he had said: "Many cases of Delta Plus AY.4.2, a new variant of the coronavirus that killed thousands of people in many countries including Russia, Britain, have been reported in India too. It spreads even faster than the Delta variant. On the basis of the experience of other countries, the Central government should prepare and issue SOP for its prevention in time."
Eighty-three per cent of the people have been administered the first dose and 48.9 per cent were fully inoculated against the disease.
He said that efforts were on to boost vaccination in the state under a special action plan, which includes increasing the number of inoculation camps in districts with a low vaccination rate.
