India: Health officials in the country recorded the lowest number of new daily coronavirus infections and deaths in about six months this week.
There were 179 Covid-related deaths on Tuesday, a far cry from the 4,000 recorded in May, when the country was overwhelmed by a devastating wave of infections. India reported 18,870 new infections on Wednesday. Though the figures have underestimated the virus’s toll in the past, the new figures suggest a positive trend.
The government has powered a vast vaccination drive, reaching remote areas. About 234 million people of India’s population of 1.4 billion are fully vaccinated, with another 409 million partly vaccinated.
Related: India is getting ready to produce its own mRNA-based Covid vaccine this year, The Wall Street Journal reports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced that the country produced the world’s first DNA vaccine.