India's active COVID-19 count declines further as country sees 32,937 new infections

File Photo (ANI)

New Delhi: Continuing the declining trend for the second consecutive day, India recorded 32,937 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed on Monday (August 16, 2021) morning. The country's active coronavirus count has now further dropped to 3,81,947 as compared to 3,85,336 on Sunday. The active cases currently constitute 1.18% of the total cases, which is the lowest since March 2020.

There were also 417 fresh deaths and 35,909 recoveries in the last 24 hours which took the death toll to 4,31,642 and the total number of recoveries to 3.14 crore. The health ministry informed that India's COVID-19 recovery rate currently stands at 97.48%, which is the highest since March 2020.

Earlier on Sunday, during his Independence Day address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Indians fought the COVID-19 period with great grit and patience. 

"We had many challenges. Countrymen performed extraordinarily in every field. It is due to the power of our entrepreneurs and scientists that the country is not dependent on anyone or any country for vaccines. Imagine for a moment, if we did not have the COVID-19 vaccine. How long did it take to get the polio vaccine? It was extremely difficult to get vaccines during such a major crisis, with pandemic plaguing the entire world," the Prime Minister said. 

He also lauded India's vaccination programme and said that online systems like Cowin and digital certificates are attracting the world today. 

"The way India has kept the stoves burning in the poor households by providing free food grains to 80 crore countrymen continuously for months during the pandemic is not only astonishing to the world but also a matter of discussion. It is true that fewer people have been infected in India as compared to other countries; it is also true that in comparison to the population of other countries of the world, we managed to save more citizens in India but it is not something to be proud of! We cannot rest on these laurels. To say that there was no challenge, will become a restrictive thought in the path of our own development," he added.