India records 1.61 lakh new Covid-19 cases, 1,733 deaths in last 24 hours

The country recorded 2,81,109 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,95,11,307. The active cases stand at 16,21,603.

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: India recorded 1,61,386 new Covid-19 cases, 1,733 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 4,97,975, according to the data released by the Ministry of Health on Wednesday (February 2, 2022). The active cases stand at 16,21,603.

A decrease of 1,21,456 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The country also recorded 2,81,109 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,95,11,307.

#UPDATE | 1,733 deaths were recorded in India in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,97,975, as per Union Health Ministry — ANI (@ANI) February 2, 2022

The active cases comprise 3.90 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate stands at 94.91 per cent.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 9.26 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 14.15 per cent, according to the ministry. 

Additionally, the cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive have exceeded ​​​​167.29 crore. As many as 17,42,793 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours to detect the presence of the virus. 

Meanwhile, as recent data have shown a sharp increase in coronavirus-related deaths around the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) has called on countries that are starting to lift Covid-19 measures to do so in a steady and slow way.

"Since the Omicron variant was first identified just 10 weeks ago, almost 90 million cases have been reported to the WHO, more than were reported in the whole of 2020. We are now starting to see a very worrying increase in deaths in most regions of the world," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing.