Union minister Nitin Gadkari and his wife received the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at AIIMS Nagpur. Earlier in the day, spiritual leader Dalai Lama got his first shot in Dharamshala’s Zonal Hospital. Over 1.94 crore people have been vaccinated as India is currently undergoing phase II of its Covid-19 inoculation drive, allowing citizens above the age of 60 and above 45 with co-morbidities to take the jab. India reported 18,327 fresh Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Saturday, taking the total number of infections to over 1.11 crore. With 108 deaths reported on Friday, the country’s death toll is now over 1.57 lakh.
Out of the total cases, over 1.80 lakh are active while 1.08 crore have recovered after testing positive. Delhi recorded 312 new Covid cases on Friday — the highest in nearly one-and-a-half months — and three deaths. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.53% after authorities conducted 59,122 tests.Total cases are at 6,40,494 while the death toll touched 10,918. The number of active cases increased to 1,779 as of Friday from 1,701 on Thursday, while the daily positivity rate rose to 0.53% from 0.39% the previous day.Earlier this week, the Union Health Ministry had flagged surge in new cases in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.