India COVID-19 cases surge by 33,750 in last 24 hours, deaths come down to 123

New Delhi, January 3, 2022

India's daily COVID-19 cases surged by 33,750 in the last 24 hours even as the number of deaths reported in this period dipped to 123.

The 123 deaths added today included 66 previously unreported fatalities in Kerala, where the data of the past many months is being reconciled and updated as per the broadened definition of COVID-19 deaths under new guidelines.

The country had yesterday recorded 27,553 fresh cases of infection and 284 deaths, including 219 previously undeclared fatalities in Kerala.

The continuing spike in new cases comes even as more States are imposing fresh restrictions on the movement of people in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, especially of the new and more transmissible Omicron variant.

Not counting the 66 previously undeclared deaths in Kerala, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the country in the last 24 hours stood at 57.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) said a total of 1,700 cases of Omicron, the new variant of COVID-19, had been reported in India so far (up from 1,525 yesterday), of whom 639 have recovered.

Of the 1,700, Maharashtra accounted for the most at 510, followed by Delhi 351, Kerala 156, Gujarat 136, Tamil Nadu 121, Rajasthan 120, Telangana 67, Karnataka 64 and Haryana 63.

With the latest data released by the MoHFW this morning, the death toll in the country from COVID-19 so far has climbed to 481,893 today.

The total number of cases of infection till now, since the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in India in late January 2020, rose to 34,922,882 today.

Of the 57 COVID-19 deaths posted in India in the last 24 hours, Kerala accounted for 12.

All other states reported less than ten deaths each, with as many as 19 States and Union Territories, including national capital Delhi, posting zero deaths during this period.

The number of those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the country rose to 34,295,407 today, up 10,846 from yesterday. The recovery rate slipped to 98.20 % from 98.27% yesterday.

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country rose for the sixth day today, going up by 22,781 to 145,582 today.

The Ministry said that the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 145.68 crore, including 23.30 lakh doses administered during the last 24 hours.

The Daily Positivity Rate rose to 3.84% today, while the Weekly Positivity Rate stood at 1.68% today, staying above 1% for the third day after 46 days below that level.

NNN