India records 4,100 Covid deaths in 24 hours with backlog numbers added

With backlog numbers added, India recorded 4,100 coronavirus-linked deaths in the last 24 hours, the health ministry data showed, as 1,660 new patients were reported (marginally lower than the previous day).

The latest jump in the number of deaths takes the overall figure to 5,20,855. The country has been recording less than 100 deaths in a day since Monday.

It’s not yet clear which states have revised the Covid data. India has been registering less than 2,000 cases in a day since March 20 even as some countries in the world see fresh Covid spike. Germany, for instance, saw over 300,000 cases for the first time on Thursday.

China has been compelled to bring back tough restrictions amid a spike driven by highly the transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant. France, Italy and the United Kingdom too have been reporting an increase in infections. The surge in these countries has led to concerns about a fourth wave in India.

India was hit by the third wave at the start of this year, which was led by Omicron. The daily cases passed the 3 lakh-mark. In the last few weeks, however, states across the country reported a drop in infections.

On Saturday, the health ministry said that the weekly positivity rate in India stands at .29 per cent while the daily positivity rate stands at .25 per cent. With a little over 16,000 active cases, the active caseload is .04 per cent of the overall cases (4,30,18,032). More than 180 crore doses of vaccines have been given so far in the country with over 1 crore doses already given for the 12-14 age group. The vaccination for the age group started earlier this month.

The United States has the highest number of cases in the world (7,99,36,777), followed by India.