New Delhi : India recorded 16,862 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,40,37,592, while the active cases declined to 2,03,678, the lowest in 216 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The number of deaths climbed to 4,51,814 with 379 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 21 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 110 consecutive days now.
The active cases comprise 0.60 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.07 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
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 and three crore on June 23.
Sydney To Open For Fully Vaccinated, But Citizens First
Sydney will allow in fully vaccinated travellers from overseas from Nov. 1 without the need for quarantine, the country’s most populous state said on Friday, although the easing of strict entry controls will initially benefit only citizens.
The move comes as New South Wales state is expected to reach an 80% first dose vaccination rate on Saturday, well ahead of the rest of Australia, and brings forward the expected return of overseas travel by several weeks.
“We need to rejoin the world. We can’t live here in hermit kingdom. We’ve got to open up,” New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said.
Australia closed its borders in March 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, allowing entry almost exclusively to only citizens and permanent residents who are currently required to undergo two weeks of hotel quarantine at their own expense.
As well ditching plans for home quarantine, which had been expected to replace the hotel stays, Perrottet said New South Wales would welcome all overseas arrivals. But he was quickly overruled by Prime Minister Scott Morrison who said the government would stick with plans to first open the border to citizens and permanent residents.
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