Covid-19: India logs 42,909 fresh cases, 380 deaths

India's Covid chart showed improvement Monday, with the country recording 42,909 cases, a drop of 4.7 per cent from Sunday.

About 380 deaths were recorded during the period, according to the Health Ministry, reports NDTV. 

No virus-related death was recorded in Delhi on Saturday, while 31 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.04 per cent, according to the city's health department. With the continuous dip in the Covid cases, the Delhi government decided to open schools in a phased manner from September 1.

Active cases in country increase to 3,76,324 and constitute 1.15 per cent of total cases, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate stands 97.51 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said.

The daily positivity rate now stands at 3.02 per cent.

About 63.43 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under nationwide vaccination drive. Over 31 lakh doses were administered in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said.

RT-PCR tests for Covid -- mandatory for travel in some states within India and when travellers go abroad -- will be linked to the government's CoWIN app.

RS Sharma, chief of the National Health Authority, said the move will help travellers prove that they have undergone authentic tests, certified by the government.

Antibodies against the coronavirus wane over time, but the immune system has a backup plan that doesn't rely on boosters, according to a study by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania, news agency Bloomberg reported.

New Zealand on Monday reported the first recorded death linked to the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

The information was released by the health ministry following a review by an independent Covid-19 vaccine safety monitoring board of the death of a woman after receiving the vaccine.

The World Health Organization declared the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. To date, more than 214.42 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 4.47 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.