India’s daily Covid-19 case count drops to 41,400; tally crosses 8.8 million

Source: Hindustan Times | Original Published At: 2020-11-15 04:52:27 UTC

Key Points

• India records 41,100 new cases, total tally crosses 8.8 million
• Daily caseload remains below 50,000 for seventh consecutive day
• Active cases stay below 500,000 mark at 479,216
• Health ministry highlights five-week declining trend in average daily cases
• India hosting clinical trials for major vaccines with 20 candidates in development
• Top 10 states account for 76.38% of new cases

India on Sunday recorded 41,100 new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), according to Union health ministry, which took the overall tally to 88,14,579.

There have been 447 new fatalities in the last 24 hours and the death toll has reached 1,29,635, according to health ministry update at 8 am.

The number of active cases yet again stayed below the five lakh mark – at 4,79,216 – and 82,05,728 patients have been discharged from the hospitals.

This is the seventh day in a row that the daily caseload has stayed below 50,000.

The health ministry said on Twitter early on Sunday that there has been a continuous decline in average daily cases for the last five weeks. It also shared a graph which showed the daily new cases from October 3 to November 13.

Health minister Harsh Vardhan had said on Friday that India has initiated an integrated response to overcome the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the 8th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting, Vardhan said that India is also hosting clinical trials for all the major vaccines, and about 20 vaccines are in different stages of development.

“From the development of indigenous vaccines, novel point-of-care diagnostics and therapeutic formulations based on traditional knowledge, to establishing research resources and offering services, Indian R&D entities, both public and private, are working relentlessly to develop effective interventions for combating the pandemic,” the health minister said.

A little over 75 per cent of the new recovered cases are contributed by 10 states and union territories, and the similar number of states has contributed 76.38% of the new cases.

The 10 states reporting maximum Covid-19 cases so far in the country are Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.