COVID-19: India records 42,625 cases and 562 deaths in a day
New Delhi: With 42,625 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 3,17,69,132 and the active caseload increased to 4,10,353, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday.
The death toll climbed to 4,25,757 with 562 fatalities.
The number of active cases increased to 4,10,353 and accounted for 1.29 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate rose to 97.37 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
An increase of 5,395 cases has been recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 18,47,518 samples were tested on Tuesday taking the number of tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 47,31,42,307.
The daily positivity rate stood at 2.31 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.36 per cent, according to the ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,09,33,022, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.34 per cent, according to the data.
Cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country so far has reached 48.52 crore.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5; and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11; 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20; and the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore coronavirus cases on May 4 and three crore cases on June 23.
The 562 new fatalities include 177 from Maharashtra and 148 from Kerala.
A total of 4,25,757 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 1,33,215 from Maharashtra, 36,650 from Karnataka, 34,159 from Tamil Nadu, 25,058 from Delhi, 22,765 from Uttar Pradesh, 18,170 from West Bengal, and 16,299 from Punjab.
The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
