India's Covid-19 tally rises by 12,885; positivity rate at 1.21%

India's Covid-19 tally saw a marginal rise on Thursday as the country reported 12,885 new cases of infection in the last 24 hours, the numbers updated on the Union health ministry's website showed.

On Wednesday, there were 11,903 cases in the same span of time.

The number of active cases was below 1.50 lakh with the number of fatalities jumping to 459,652, as per the government data.

According to the Union ministry of health and family welfare, the number of active Covid-19 cases in India stands at 1,48,579, the lowest in 253 days.

Since the April surge, the Covid-19 tally is falling steadily, however, concerns regarding a fresh spurt in cases have emerged amid the ongoing festivities.

According to the government data, the daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 20,000 for 27 straight days, and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 130 consecutive days now.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.21%. It has been less than two per cent for 31 days.

On the vaccination front, 107.63 crore doses have been administered across the country by the health authorities so far.

Out of this, 27 lakh jabs were administered on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with officials of more than 40 districts with sluggish vaccination pace.

During the meeting, PM Modi asked the officials to take the vaccination drive door-to-door and for their strategies according to a particular area.

Cautioning against any laxity after surpassing the milestone of 1 billion vaccine doses, Modi warned "a new crisis can come" and said one should not underestimate "diseases and enemies as they should be fought till the very end".