India adds 34,113 COVID-19 cases, active cases fall below 5 lakh after 37 days
New Delhi(PTI): India on Monday reported 34,113 fresh coronavirus infections that took its tally to 4,26,65,534, while active cases dropped below 5 lakh after around 37 days, according to Union health ministry data.
Daily COVID-19 cases have remained below 1 lakh for eight consecutive days now. The death toll climbed to 5,09,011 with 346 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The number of active cases has declined to 4,78,882, comprising 1.12 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 97.68 per cent, the ministry said.
A reduction of 58,163 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.19 per cent. The weekly positivity rate stood at 3.99 per cent, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the viral disease has surged to 4,16,77,641. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent, it said.
The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive have exceeded 172.95 crore.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, 2021, and three crore on June 23.
The 346 new fatalities include 146 from Kerala and 27 each from Karnataka and West Bengal.
Of the 5,09,011 deaths reported in the country so far, 1,43,404 were from Maharashtra, 62,199 from Kerala, 39,640 from Karnataka, 37,915 from Tamil Nadu, 26,072 from Delhi, 23,398 from Uttar Pradesh and 21,017 from West Bengal.
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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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
