India reports 8,329 fresh Covid-19 cases, 10 deaths in 24 hours; active cases at 40,370

A single-day rise of over 8,000 fresh COVID-19 cases was recorded in the country after 103 days, pushing India's infection tally to 4,32,13,435, while the count of active cases jumped to 40,370, according to Union Health Ministry data on Saturday.

A total of 8,329 new coronavirus cases were reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 5,24,757, with 10 fatalities being recorded, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases now comprise 0.09 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.69 per cent, the ministry said.

Of the 3,081 new Covid-19 cases witnessed across Maharashtra on Friday, 1,956 infections were from Mumbai alone. For the first time since January 23, Mumbai recorded Covid-19 cases as high as 1,956 on Friday.

This is a 15 per cent surge, as the city had reported 1,702 cases a day before.

The test positivity rate (TPR) – the number of positive cases out of the total tests conducted – reached 12.74 per cent in the city on Friday.

In a separate development, the Biden administration is lifting its requirement that international air travellers to the US take a Covid-19 test within a day before boarding their flights, easing one of the last remaining government mandates meant to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

A senior administration official said the mandate expires Sunday at 12:01 am ET, saying the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that it's no longer necessary.