Covid-19 cases in India fall to lowest since May 2020 amid omicron fears
New Delhi, Dec 7 (EFE).- India reported Tuesday 6,822 fresh cases of the coronavirus, the lowest since May 2020 as the declining trend of recent weeks continued despite concerns over spread of the omicron variant, of which 23 cases have been detected so far.
This country of some 1.2 billion inhabitants recorded the lowest number of infections in 558 days in the last 24 hours, according to the health ministry, bringing the total number of infections since the beginning of the pandemic to 34.6 million.
India also registered 220 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 473,757.
The figures provided by India, the second most affected country by Covid-19 in the world just behind the United States (49.2 million cases), are a far cry from those recorded during the second wave of infection in May, with more than 400,000 daily cases and over 4,500 deaths.
The healthcare infrastructure almost collapsed with hospitals flooded with patients and crematoriums packed with bodies, while many parts of the country faced acute shortages of medical oxygen.
Despite the recent decline in cases, the country has so far detected 23 infections of the omicron variant, according to the Indian Express newspaper, prompting the Indian authorities to impose tighter controls over flights.
The emergence of the new variant, first detected in South Africa, has also led the Indian authorities to suspend the normal resumption of international flights, originally scheduled for Dec.15, after 20 months of restrictions.
The Asian country has so far administered over 1.28 billion vaccine doses, with almost 8 million shots in the last 24 hours.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that 50 percent of the eligible population had been fully vaccinated.
“The Asian country has so far administered over 1.2 billion vaccines, with almost 8 million doses in the last 24 hours, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday welcomed the fact that 50% of the eligible population has received the full regimen against coronavirus,” he said. EFE
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