India's daily coronavirus positivity rate falls below 10 per cent

With 1,61,386 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India's total tally of cases increased to over 4.16 crore, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,97,975 with 1,733 fatalities reported during the 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The active cases decreased by 1,21,456 to reach 16,21,603, 4.20 per cent of the total infections, while the country's recovery rate stands at 94.60 per cent, the ministry said. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 9.26 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 14.15 per cent, according to the health ministry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India is fighting the new wave of Covid with "great success" and asserted that the people's trust on indigenous vaccines was "our strength". In his monthly 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast, Modi said, "Now the cases of corona infection have also started decreasing, this is a very positive sign."

He asserted that India is fighting the new wave of coronavirus with "great success".

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi congratulated fellow citizens for this momentous feat" of full vaccination of 75 per cent of all adults and said he is proud of all those who are making the inoculation drive a success. Tagging a tweet by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in which he stated that India has achieved its goal of vaccinating 75 per cent adult population against Covid, the prime minister said, "75% of all adults are fully vaccinated. Congratulations to our fellow citizens for this momentous feat.