New Delhi: India recorded 4,03,738 fresh Covid cases and 4,092 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the overall caseload to 2.22 crore and fatalities to 2,42,362, Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
Out of these, over 37.36 lakh cases are currently active, comprising 16.76 per cent of the total infections, while over 1.79 crore people have recovered at 82.15 per cent.
This is the fifth time in a week that the country has reported over 4 lakh daily infections.
Maharashtra reported 56,578 cases while Karnataka had 47,563. Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were the other top contributors.
Meanwhile, a total of 16,94,39,663 people have been vaccinated across the nation till Sunday with 20,23,532 people being vaccinated in the last 24 hrs.
A total of 30,22,75,471 samples have been tested up to May 8 with 18,65,428 samples taken in 24 hrs, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.
Data released by the government, on Covid patients requiring critical care, shows that nearly 50,000 people are currently in ICUs while over 14,000 on ventilator support.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday spoke with the chief ministers of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh over the phone to take stock of the pandemic situation in their states.
In another development, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved an anti-Covid oral drug developed by DRDO in collaboration with Dr Reddy's Laboratories for emergency use. A clinical trial showed that the drug, 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), helps in faster recovery of hospitalised patients, reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. (UNI)