New Delhi : India recorded 7,171 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, around 362 less than the count reported yesterday, according to a daily bulletin released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday.

There has been a decline in the number of positive cases of Covid-19 in the last two days. Around 9,355 cases of Covid-19 were reported on Thursday, whereas the country logged 7,533 cases on Friday, according to official records.
According to the Health Ministry’s data, the total number of active cases in the country has declined to 51,314 from the earlier 53,852.

The daily positivity rate stands at 3.69 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate is at 4.72 per cent. A total of 92.64 crore Covid-19 tests have been conducted so far, with 1,94,134 tests undertaken in the last 24 hours, as stated by the Health Ministry.

As per the Ministry, 3,875 doses of vaccine have been administered over the last 24 hours while the recovery rate stands at 98.70 per cent.According to the Union Ministry of Health and Welfare, 220.66 crore total vaccine doses which comprise 95.21 crores of Second Doses and 22.87 crores of Precaution Doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive.

Meanwhile, medical experts have warned that the new XBB1.16 variant can evade people’s immune systems, and the upcoming four weeks are crucial. Former director of AIIMS, Delhi, Dr Randeep Guleria said that while the country was seeing a fresh surge in Covid-19 infections, the situation isn’t one to induce panic.

“Covid-19 cases have been on the rise across the country. But the majority of the infections are mild. The rate of hospitalisation hasn’t gone up either. It’s not a panic-like situation yet,” Guleria told