India reports 141,986 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection, 285 deaths in last 24 hours

New Delhi, January 8, 2022

India today reported 141,986 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection and 285 deaths in the last 24 hours as many parts of the country continued to see a surge in the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 285 deaths recorded today included 154 previously undeclared 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.

Yesterday, the country had added 117,100 fresh cases of COVID-19 infection and 302 deaths, including 204 previously unreported fatalities in Kerala.

If the 154 previously unreported deaths in Kerala are not taken into account, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the country in the last 24 hours stood at 131.

The continuing spike in new cases comes even as more States imposed 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.

The Government has also announced revised guidelines for international travellers under which all arriving passengers would have to undergo home quarantine for seven days and undertake an RT-PCR test on the 8th day after arrival in India.

The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) said a total of 3,071 cases of Omicron, the new and more transmissible variant of COVID-19, had been reported in India so far (up from 3,007 yesterday), of whom 1,203 had recovered.

Of the 3,071, Maharashtra accounted for the most at 876, followed by Delhi 513, Karnataka 333, Rajasthan 291, Kerala 284, Gujarat 204, Telangana 123, Tamil Nadu 121 and Haryana 114.

With the latest data released by the MoHFW this morning, the death toll in the country from COVID-19 so far has climbed to 483,463 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 35,368,372 today.

Of the 131 COVID-19 deaths posted in India in the last 24 hours, Kerala accounted for 35, Maharashtra 20, and West Bengal 18.

All other states reported less than ten deaths each, with as many as 12 States and Union Territories posting zero deaths during this period.

National capital Delhi registered nine COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The number of those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the country rose to 34,412,740 today, up 40,895 from yesterday. The recovery rate slipped to 97.30% from 97.57% yesterday.

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in the country rose for the 11th day today, going up by 100,806 to cross the 400,000-mark at 472,169 today.

Meanwhile, the the number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed the 150-crore milestone, reaching 150.61 crore, including 90.59 lakh doses administered in the last 24 hours.

The Daily Positivity Rate rose to 9.28% and the Weekly Positivity Rate to 5.66%.

NNN