India's daily Covid death count hit a new grim record with 4,205 deaths in the last 24 hours; 3,48,421 fresh cases have been added to the active caseload amid the battle against the second wave, which has raised global concern.
Nearly 30 lakh infections have been recorded by the country since May 5. India's total death count passed the 2.5 lakh-mark this morning, Health Ministry data showed. The fresh surge takes active cases to 37,04,099; overall cases rose to 2.33 crore. The positivity rate stood at 17.56 per cent.
In the last 24 hours, 19,83,804 samples were tested, the most in a day since the pandemic broke. Per government data, 24,46,674 vaccine doses were administered in a new record since India began the world's largest vaccine drive on January 16, reports NDTV.
Even as experts stress stepping up vaccinations to fight the surge in cases, states have been scrambling to arrange doses. Delhi and some southern Indian states are considering the global-tender route. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha have already chosen this option.
Hit hard by the second wave, nearly 90 per cent of the country is witnessing a high positivity rate, the government said on Tuesday, stressing that 640 districts out of the 734 are above the national threshold level of five per cent.
A variant of the virus - B.1.617 - that has been linked to the explosion in cases in India has been found in 44 countries, the World Health Organization has said, days after labelling it as "a variant of concern". The variant was first found in India in October.