At 3,614, India records lowest number of fresh COVID-19 cases since May 2020

The daily case count was the lowest since May 12, 2020, when the country had logged 3,604 cases of the infection.

PTI

March 12, 2022 / 11:06 IST

(Representative image)

India recorded its lowest single-day rise in Covid infections since May 12, 2020 as 3,614 fresh cases pushed the overall tally to 4,29,87,875 infections, even as the number of active cases dipped to 40,559, the Union Health Ministry said.

The death toll due to the viral disease went up to 5,15,803 with 89 more fatalities, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The active cases account for 0.09 per cent of the total caseload, while the country's COVID-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.71 per cent, the ministry said.

A reduction of 1,660 cases was recorded in the active caseload in a span of 24 hours, it added. The daily case count was the lowest since May 12, 2020, when the country had logged 3,604 cases, the ministry said.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 4,24,31,513 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.2 per cent. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.44 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 0.52 per cent.

A total of 77.77 crore tests to detect the coronavirus have been conducted so far, 8,21,122 of them in the last 24 hours. The cumulative number of anti-Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 179.91 crore.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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