India reported 35,499 new Coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking its overall Covid-19 tally to 3,19,69,954, while the death toll climbed to 4,28,309 with 447 fresh fatalities, according to data from the Union Health Ministry on Monday.The number of active cases in the country has declined to 4,02,188 and now accounts for 1.27 per cent of the total infections, the health ministry ministry said. In a positive development, the vaccine vaccination drive in the country has picked up in August.

According to Health Ministry data, the daily average has gone up to 51.45lakh doses during the 7-day period of July 31-August 6 from the 48.26 lakh doses in the previous week. On August 7, India’s cumulative vaccine coverage crossed the 50-crore mark, the second-highest after China. In another positive development, an ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) study says the mixing of Covishield and Covaxin vaccines elicits better immune protection. In the meanwhile, several states/UTs have announced the reopening of schools for offline classes as the Covid-19 situation in the country improves.

The Delhi government has allowed schools to reopen for classes X to XII. Maharashtra has announced the reopening of physical classes in schools in both rural and urban areas from August 17. The Uttar Pradesh government had announced to reopen schools for intermediate students from August 16. Schools across Odisha had reopened for students of classes 10-12 on July 26 after a gap of more than three months. Northeastern state Meghalaya is looking to reopen educational institutions after mid-August. The Karnataka to resume offline classes for students of Class 9-10, and for pre-university college students from August 23.

News Source : Republic World