by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
NEW DELHI, Sept 17 (NNN-XINHUA) – India yesterday reported 1,290 deaths, so far the highest single-day spike in fatalities related to COVID-19, pushing the death toll to 82,066.
The infection tally across the country has crossed five million mark and reached 5,020,359. According to the federal health ministry, 90,123 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the past 24 hours.
“At present 995,933 cases are active and 3,942,360 have been discharged from hospital,” the ministry said. The case fatality rate of the disease is 1.63 percent, and 19.83 percent cases are active. The recovery rate, however, stands at 78.52 percent.
During the past week, the country recorded more than 90,000 new cases every day, barring Tuesday.
In the entire country, Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with a tally of 1,097,856 cases. Over 37 percent of cumulative deaths reported so far are from Maharashtra.
According to the ministry, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh continue to report the highest number of active cases, accounting for close to 60 percent of total cases.
A sero-prevalance survey, conducted in the Indian capital, in the first week of Aug, found that, 30 percent or 79 of the 257 people who recovered from COVID-19, did not have antibodies against the virus, making them vulnerable to re-infection.
Meanwhile, the Drugs Controller General of India, revoked its earlier order of suspending any new recruitment for phases 2 and 3 trials, and has given permission to Serum Institute of India to resume the trials.
On Sunday India’s federal health minister, Harsh Vardhan said, COVID-19 vaccine might be ready by the first quarter of next year.
“Several vaccine trials are going on in India. At present, we can’t predict which one will emerge as the most effective. But by the first quarter of 2021, we will definitely know the results,” Vardhan said.
“A vaccine expert group has been set up, which is overseeing the entire process. While the trial results get assessed, manufacturers will be advised to begin mass-production, so that no time is wasted.”– NNN-XINHUA