Coronavirus India Cases: Active Infections Remain Above 37 Lakh For A Week
Track the second wave of Covid-19 in India and the containment and immunisation efforts here.
Active cases of Covid-19 in India remained above 37 lakh for the seventh consecutive day, as the country was unable to build on marginal gains made against the pandemic.
More than 3.43 lakh people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry’s 8 a.m. update on May 14. Nearly 3.45 lakh recoveries during the same period did not make a significant dent in the country’s active caseload.
4,000 patients succumbed to the illness in a single day, taking the nation's total death toll to more than 2.62 lakh.
To be clear, data on Covid cases and related deaths may be severely deficient as several states have inadequate testing, chronic underreporting and have been reportedly concealing such data by attributing the casualties to other causes.
Key data points:
- Total confirmed cases: 2,40,46,809
- Total number of active cases: 37,04,893
- Total patients cured/discharged: 2,00,79,599
- Total deaths: 2,62,317
- Number of fresh cases in last 24 hours: 3,43,144
- One-day recoveries: 3,44,776
- One-day deaths: 4,000
- Total vaccination shots administered: 17,92,98,584
India has increased the gap between two doses of Covishield, the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine manufactured in the country by the Serum Institute.
The guidance comes at a time the central government's supply of vaccines has dried up, prompting states to prioritise second doses for those above 45 by halting inoculation of those aged 18-44.
Based on available real-life evidence, particularly from the U.K., the Covid-19 working group has agreed to increase dosing interval to 12-16 weeks between the two doses of Covishield, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Thursday. However, no change in interval has been suggested for Covaxin.