India reports 1,581 new COVID-19 cases, 33 deaths in last 24 hours

New Delhi: India reported new COVID-19 cases below the 2000-mark for the third consecutive day as the daily positivity rate dipped further to 0.28 per cent.

After 2,075 new cases on March 19, the Union Health Ministry recorded 1,761 new cases on March 20 and 1,549 new cases on March 21. With 1,581 new cases in the last 24 hours, the cumulative caseload reached 43,010,971, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday.

As recoveries continue to outnumber fresh infections, the active cases have declined to 23,913, constituting 0.06 per cent of the country's total positive cases. The weekly positivity rate stood at 0.39 per cent, the ministry said.

As many as 2,741 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours and the cumulative tally of recovered patients since the beginning of the pandemic is now at 4,24,70,515. The death toll due to COVID climbed to 5,16,510 with 31 new fatalities.

India's recovery rate stands at 98.74 per cent while the fatality rate is at 1.20 per cent.

According to the health ministry, a total of 5,68,471 COVID-19 were conducted in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of tests conducted in the country to 78,36,13,628.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 181.56 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am on Tuesday. This has been achieved through 2,14,38,677 sessions.

COVID-19 vaccination for the age group 12-14 years was started on March 16, 2022. So far, more than 34 lakh (34,19,633) adolescents have been administered with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination started on January 16, 2021. The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21, 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.

As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them COVID vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalisation of the COVID19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs.