NEWDELHI: In yet another sign of declining Coronavirus cases in the country, India on Wednesday reported 1,32,788 new cases of COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours.
According to the Union Health Ministry data released at 9 AM this morning, at least 2,31,456 people were discharged during this period, taking the total tally to 2,61,79,085 patients who have been discharged so far.
The country also reported 3,207 COVID-19 linked fatalities during the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry data said. With this, the total death count now stands at 3,35,102. While there are 17,93,645 active cases as of now, the total COVID-19 tally now stands at 2,83,07,832.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), at least 21,85,46,667 people have been vaccinated so far. As many as 35,00,57,330 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till 1 June, of which 20,19,773 samples were tested on Tuesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.
In a related development, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said that only one strain of the COVID-19 Delta variant, detected in India first, is now of concern, adding that two other strains have been downgraded.
Since it is split into three lineages, the B.1.617 variant of the virus, which was blamed for a massive coronavirus outbreak in India, has been dubbed a triple mutant variant.
It has renamed the B.1.617.2 variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, as the `Delta variant`. In a statement, the WHO said that it convened an expert group that recommended using easy-to-pronounce and non-stigmatising labels for Variants of Interest (VOIs) and Variants of Concern (VOC).
The group recommended using letters of the Greek Alphabet – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, which will be easier and more practical to discussed by non-scientific audiences.
Bureau Report
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