The vaccination programme in the country has entered its fourth week. (File)
New Delhi:
Fifteen states and Union Territories have not reported any death due to COVID-19 in last 24 hours, the government said today, highlighting the weakening hold of the virus over the country. While the number of fresh daily cases has been on a steady decline, over the last five weeks, there has been a 55 per cent decline in the average daily deaths. In the last one week, seven states and Union Territories have recorded no fatality, the Union health ministry said.
The seven states and Union Territories which reported zero deaths in the last week are Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar, Tripura, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Nagaland, Mizoram and Lakshadweep.
The figures of daily mortality per million population in India over the last seven days have been among the lowest in the world, said VK Paul of Niti Aayog.
“The number of cases (of Covid) is also falling. So that is good news. In the last 24 hours, no death was recorded in Delhi. So that is also a good news,” said Mr Paul.
It is, however, important to continue with the precautions, he said, pointing out that the countrywide sero survey “tells us that over 70 per cent of our population is still vulnerable”.
The national sero-survey has showed that 25 per cent people are carrying Covid anti-bodies — a figure far below that of metros like Delhi and Mumbai. In Mumbai, the figure is more than 75 per cent.
In Delhi, the last sero-survey had indicated that the city is rapidly moving towards herd immunity, with one in two persons carrying Covid antibodies – meaning at some point, they have been infected. The official number of infected people when the survey was completed was over 6.34 lakh.
The tapering fatality rate in the disease also comes as the vaccination programme in the country entered its fourth week. Those who received the first shot of the vaccine on January 16 are expected to receive the booster dose on February 13.