20,346 new COVID-19 cases push India’s tally to 1,03,95,278

India has reported 20,346 new COVID-19 cases, 19,587 recoveries, and 222 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,03,95,278 on Thursday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

While 1,00,16,859 people have recovered from the novel coronavirus so far, 1,50,336 persons have succumbed to the deadly virus in the country.

There are 2,28,083 active coronavirus cases in India, as per the Union Health Ministry.

Kerala, the worst affected state in the country, has reported 65,252 active cases. The Centre on Wednesday deployed a high-level central team headed by Dr. SK Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) there, to help the state combat the pandemic.

Maharashtra witnessed slight improvement with 51,969 active cases reported on Thursday morning. Delhi has 4,481 active cases, 6,13,246 recoveries, and 10,625 fatalities, according to the Health Ministry.

As many as 17,84,00,995 samples have been tested for Covid-19 up to January 6 including 9,37,590 samples tested on Wednesday, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) informed.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, a second dry run will take place on January 8 across all districts of the country, except in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, the MoHFW said on Wednesday.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan will also meet health ministers of all the States/Union Territories (UTs) on Thursday to guide States/UTs on the conduct of dry run.

The Ministry said that around 1.7 lakh vaccinators and three lakh vaccination team members have been trained on the process to be followed at the vaccination sites which include beneficiary verification, vaccination, cold chain & logistics management, bio-medical waste management, AEFI management, and reporting on Co-WIN software. (ANI)