India reported 1,61,736 new Covid-19 cases, 879 deaths in 24 hours
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According to the latest updates by the Union Health Ministry, India reports 1,61,736 new Coved-10 infections, 97,168 discharges and 879 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country has surged to 1,36,89,453 while the recoveries have surged to 1,22,53,697, as updated on Tuesday
Amid shortage in Covid vaccines, India's drug regulator - the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved emergency use of Russia's Covid vaccine Sputnik V.
After the Serum Institute of India's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin ,Sputnik V becomes the third coronavirus vaccine to be cleared by the drug regulator.
India has become the 60th country to approve the two-dose vaccine, said the Russian Direct Investment Fund or RDIF (Russia's sovereign wealth fund) in a statement .
Meanwhile, as Delhi's Covid spike worsens, the government have directed 4 private hospitals to be made in the city into "full COVID-19" hospitals to admit people infected with the coronavirus on Monday. Also, 19 private hospitals are asked to reserve at least 80 per cent of their intensive care unit (ICU) beds for Covid treatment.
With 97,168 more COVID-19 patients being cured of the infectious disease, the number of recoveries in the country has risen over 1.22 crore on Tuesday. The COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 89.5 percent.