COVID-19: India records 56% jump in daily cases, 90,928 cases reported in 24 hours

New Delhi: India on Thursday reported 90,928 fresh COVID-19 cases, which is almost 56 percent higher than Wednesday' tally and 325 related deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total tally in the country to 4,82,876, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

The active caseload in the country reached 2,85,401, while 19,206 recoveries were also recorded in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recovered cases to 3,43,41,009, the data showed.

Meanwhile, the tally of Omicron cases in the country has now reached 2,630, with Maharashtra (797) topping the count, followed by Delhi (465), Rajasthan (236) and Kerala (234).

Out of the total Omicron cases, 995 have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry's data.

On Wednesday, the Centre confirmed the first Omicron-related death in the country -- that of a 74-year-old man with comorbidities, who succumbed to the virus last week in Rajasthan's Udaipur.

On Wednesday Centre said that the country’s R naught value that indicates the spread of the infection is 2.69, higher than the 1.69 recorded during the peak of the pandemic’s second wave.

On vaccination front, the government has been continuously speeding up the vaccination drive across the country.

According to the bulletin issued by the Ministry on Thursday 68.53 Crore tests for COVID-19 have been done so far.

“India has administered 148.67 cr doses of COVID-19 vaccine so far under the ongoing nationwide vaccination drive” Ministry's data said.

Over one crore 24 lakh cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered among adolescents in the 15 to 18 age group so far since the start of vaccination drive for adolescents.

In a tweet, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya praised the enthusiasm among adolescents for vaccination and congratulated them on this achievement.

He also appealed to all eligible adolescents to get vaccinated at the earliest.

Meanwhile, Minister of State at the Union Health Ministry Dr Bharati Pawar has tested positive for the COVID-19, she informed on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, the minister announced about her infection and urged everyone who came into her contact to undergo the COVID-19 test. (Inputs from UNI)