Srinagar: In the last 24 hours, India has recorded a spike of 69,652 fresh COVID cases which pushed the tally to above 2.8 million (28,36,925).
The number of active cases in the country is 6,86,395, while the number of those discharged from the hospitals is 20,96,664.
With 977 deaths in the last 24 hours, the number of fatalities reached 53,866.
The daily death toll in India crossed the 1,000-mark for the third time in the last 10 days as the country reported 1,103 fatalities on Tuesday.
Before Tuesday, daily deaths in the country have crossed the 1,000-mark four times – 2,004 fatalities were recorded on June 16, 1,130 on July 22, 1,018 on August 9 and 1,010 on August 13.
According to the Health Ministry of India, more than eight lakh samples were tested for the deadly virus for the second consecutive day in a row. This took the cumulative tests to 3,17,42,782, it added.
Terming the decision boost for the economy, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday allowed hotels to resume operations and weekly markets to open after nearly five months on a trial basis.
There are over 150 coronavirus vaccines in various stages of development in several countries with a few making advanced progress in clinical trials.
Earlier, Russia announced that the country has already produced the first batch of its COVID vaccine.
In India, a Pune based vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII) has decided to manufacture 100 million COVID vaccine doses which will be capped at Rs 225 per dose.
While the Oxford coronavirus vaccine and a Chinese vaccine showing positive results in the first round of human trials, the Moderna has shown positive results among mice and developed immunity against the disease upon testing.
India’s Covaxin, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has also entered the human trial stage and is expected to come out with results in a month.
Pertinently, on August 15, the Prime Minister of India said that three probable COVID vaccines are currently being developed in India and large-scale production will begin as soon as scientists give a green signal.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to all the frontline workers involved in India’s fight against the pandemic.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned world governments against “vaccine nationalism” and urged leaders to make plans on how to share life-saving inoculations against coronavirus.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the threat of COVID can only be snuffed out with global coordination, especially when a vaccine is developed.
Free Press Kashmir is now on Telegram. Click here to Join.
