COVID-19: India records 4,100 more fatalities, 1,660 fresh cases

The number of active cases of the infection has declined to 16,741, the lowest in 702 days and accounting for 0.04 per cent of the total caseload

PTI

March 26, 2022 / 10:30 IST

[Image: Shutterstock]

India’s COVID-19 death toll climbed to 5,20,855 with 4,100 fatalities recorded in a day and Maharashtra reconciling the number of deaths caused by the viral disease in the state, the Union health ministry said on March 26. A total of 1,660 fresh cases have pushed the country’s COVID-19 tally to 4,30,18,032, while the number of active cases has fallen below 20,000, according to the ministry’s data updated at 8 am.

The number of active cases of the infection has declined to 16,741, the lowest in 702 days and accounting for 0.04 per cent of the total caseload. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.75 per cent, the ministry said. Maharashtra reported a high death toll because of the inclusion of non-Covid fatalities (4,005) reported till Friday. The state reported two fresh deaths caused by the viral disease in the last 24 hours, according to a media bulletin.

A reduction of 4,789 cases was recorded in the country’s active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.25 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 0.29 per cent, according to the health ministry.

A total of 6,58,489 tests were conducted to detect the infection in the last 24 hours. India has so far conducted over 78.63 crore Covid tests. The number of people who have recuperated has gone up to 4,24,80,436, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.21 per cent.

The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 182.87 crore. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 2020, 40 lakh on September 5, 2020 and 50 lakh on September 16, 2020.

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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