India's coronavirus tally rises to 99.50 lakh with 24,009 new cases in 24 hours
Air pollution, following Diwali, in Delhi
India reported 24,010 new cases in a matter of 24 hours taking the total tally over 99.5 lakh in the world’s second-worst infected nation, according to the Health Ministry.
That includes over 94.8 lakh recoveries and more than 1.44 lakh deaths. At over 33,000, daily recoveries continued to surpass new cases for over two weeks now.
New infections continue to decline in India, in a sign of improving conditions, at a time when the country is weeks away from a vaccine.
Active cases have now fallen below the 3.3 lakh mark. This is the fourth straight day of less than 30,000 new Covid-19 cases reported within 24 hours.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 15,78,05,240 samples have been tested up to December 15, of which 11,58,960 were conducted on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Union Health Ministry said, five states - Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Kerala and Maharashtra - account for 56% of total active cases of COVID-19 in the country.
Meanwhile, A top World Health Organization (WHO) official has called for greater vigilance amid the roll-out of a Covid-19 vaccine, saying the vaccine is not a "silver bullet" that will end the nearly year-long pandemic which has infected over 74 million people across the globe and killed more than 1.64 million others.
(With inputs from agencies)