India recorded 9,419 new COVID-19 cases, 159 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the overall caseload to 3,46,66,241 and the total death toll to 4,74,111, as per data released by the Ministry of Health on Thursday (December 9, 2021).
An increase of 1,009 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The country also reported 8,251 recoveries, taking the total recovers to 3,40,97,388. With this, the national recovery rate currently stands at 98.36 percent, which is the highest since March 2020.
The active cases have increased to 94,742 comprising 0.27 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.36 percent, the highest since March 2020, the Health Ministry said.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.73 percent. It has been less than 2 percent for the last 66 days.
The weekly positivity rate was also recorded at 0.74 percent. It has been below one percent for the last 25 days, according to the ministry.
Additionally, the cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 130.39 crore.
Meanwhile, with the Omicron variant now present in 57 countries, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned at a press briefing that it can spread more rapidly than previous variants, Xinhua news agency reported.
“We are now starting to see a consistent picture of rapid increase in transmission (rates), although for now the exact rate of increase relative to other variants remains difficult to quantify,” he said. “Emerging data from South Africa suggest increased risk of re-infection with Omicron, but more data are needed to draw firmer conclusions,” he added.