India recorded 42,766 number of COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the total tally to 3,07,95,716. In the last 24 hours, 1,206 people also succumbed to the viral infection and the overall death toll now stands at 407,145, according to the Union health ministry's data.
Saturday's tally marks a decrease over the 43,393 cases the country had recorded on Friday and 45,892 cases on Wednesday. The number of fatalities recorded on Saturday also went up.
The health ministry informed on July 9 that the cumulative vaccine coverage in India has surpassed 37 crore, of which 10,98,62,585 doses were administered for the first time to those in the 18-44 age group while 35,08,932 got their second dose. The health ministry issued guidelines for vaccinating pregnant women and urged expecting mothers to get vaccinated with any of the three vaccines presently authorized for use in India — Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik V.
As states have started to gradually open up reports of citizens flouting Covid-19 induced protocols started to emerge. This comes against the backdrop of the World Health Organisation (WHO) notifying a new strain of the virus, called Lambda, as a 'variant of interest' on June 14.
The health ministry said that so far India has not recorded any cases of Lambda virus but urged everyone to exercise caution. "We cannot lower our guard. A new risk is being seen at tourist spots where a gathering of crowds being seen, social distancing and mask protocol is not being followed. This is a serious cause of concern," said Dr VK Paul, member (health), NITI Aayog, during a media briefing on Friday evening.
