India Records 35,499 New Covid-19 Cases, 447 New Deaths

India on Monday reported 35,499 fresh cases of Covid-19 over the last 24 hours, according to the data released by the Union health ministry. The number is slightly lower than Sunday's 39,070 cases.  

After Monday's fresh cases, the overall tally has reached 31,969,954. The death toll saw a rise of 447 fatalities and now stands at 428,309, according to the ministry's data, reports the Hindustan Times.

The number of active cases declined to 402,188, according to the health ministry. The national Covid-19 recovery rate has improved to 97.40 percent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 31,139,457.

As many as 1,371,871 tests were conducted on Saturday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of Covid-19 in the country to 481,767,232.

On the vaccination front, 568 million Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered under the nationwide vaccination drive till Sunday morning.

On Saturday, the health ministry granted Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine emergency use authorisation, making it the fifth vaccine and the second foreign-made shot to be cleared for use in the country. The vaccine will be brought to India through a supply agreement with homegrown vaccine maker Biological E Ltd.

Apart from the J&J vaccine, the four other Covid-19 shots approved for emergency use in India are Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, the Russian-made Sputnik V, and the Moderna vaccine.