Covid 19 fourth wave: India reports 3,207 new Covid-19 cases, 29 deaths in past 24 hours

India on Monday reported a single-day rise of 3,207 new Covid-19 cases and 29 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the data by Union Health Ministry.

According to the Union Health Ministry data, as many as 3,410 people recovered during the same period and the active cases have reached 20,403.

With this, the total number of cases in the country has touched 4,31,05,401, while the death toll stands at 5,24,093, the Health Ministry figures said.

India has so far administered 190.34 crore Covid-19 vaccination doses. It may be noted that India's COVId-19 tally crossed the 20 lakh mark on August 7, 2020. 

By August 23, it was 30 lah and touched 40 lakh within just 13 days. On September 16, a psychologically important 50 lakh mark was reached.

On December 19, the country's COVID-19 tally touched 1 crore. 

The grim milestone of two crore cases was reached on May 4, 2021, and three crore on June 23 last year.

All this comes amid a row over the World Health Organization (WHO) report on excess mortality due to Covid-19 in India, which the government has categorically rejected.

The global health body in a series of exercises in the last over a year suggested that India's official death toll is an undercount. 

The WHO report pegged India's excess mortality (people who probably would not have died if there was no pandemic) for 2020 and 2021 at 47.4 lakh.

However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and several state health ministers too countered the WHO report and said that its data collection method is scientifically questionable.