HomeNewsIndiaRecord 5,611 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, tally rises to 1,06,750; death toll touches 3,303 in India

Record 5,611 COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, tally rises to 1,06,750; death toll touches 3,303 in India

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 61,149, while 42,297 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

May 20, 2020 / 10:55 IST
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The death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 3,303 and the number of cases climbed to 1,06,750 in the country on Wednesday, registering an increase of 140 deaths and a record spike of 5,611 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 61,149, while 42,297 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said.

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"Thus, around 39.62 per cent patients have recovered so far," a senior health ministry official said.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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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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