India reports lowest daily Covid cases in 81 days

India's Covid chart continued to show improvement on Sunday, with the country recording 58,419 cases, the lowest in 81 days.

India, the second-worst hit country, now has 2.98 crore cases. Active cases now comprise 2.44 per cent of the total infections.

Active cases have decreased by 30,776 in the last 24 hours to take the tally to 7,29,243. The daily recoveries have been outnumbering the fresh infections for 38 consecutive days now. About 87,619 patients recovered in the last 24 hours.

Kerala contributed 12,443 cases to the country's daily numbers, the most among the states. It was followed by Maharashtra (8,912 cases) and Tamil Nadu (8,183 cases).

Over 27 crore people have been administered doses under the massive inoculative drive which began in January, the government said. More than 5.5 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the age group 18-44, so far, it said.

The country witnessed 1,576 virus-related deaths during the period - the lowest in 63 days, taking the total number of fatalities to 3.86 lakh. But there have been reports of undercounting in states like Bihar and Maharashtra.

Covid victims cannot be paid a compensation of ₹4 lakhs as it applies to natural disasters only, the government has told the Supreme Court. In a 183-page affidavit filed late last night, the centre also added that denying compensation for diseases other than Covid would be "unfair".

Many states have begun easing Covid-related lockdown norms amid the receding second Covid wave. The Telangana government on Saturday announced reopening of all educational institutions from July 1.

The Centre, however, has warned states to ensure the "extremely important" five-fold strategy of Covid-appropriate behaviour, test-track-treat and vaccination to prevent the spread of the disease. Vaccination against Covid-19, in the present scenario, is critical to break the chain of transmission, it said.

A third Covid wave in India is "inevitable", and it could hit the country in the next six to eight weeks, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria told NDTV on Saturday amid unlocking in parts of the country after weeks of strict restrictions. The country's main challenge is vaccinating a huge population, he said.