NEW DELHI, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- India reported 16,167 new cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,161,899 in the country, according to federal health ministry data released on Monday morning.
Monday's new cases marked a decrease in comparison to the daily caseload of Sunday which was 18,738.
Currently, India's active caseload stands at 135,510.
The country also logged 41 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 526,730 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
The daily positivity rate stands at 6.14 percent and the weekly positivity rate was 4.64 percent, the ministry data showed.
The ministry said so far 43,499,659 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals, including 15,549 discharged during the past 24 hours.
According to the federal health ministry, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country has exceeded 2 billion doses, and until Monday morning 2,065,654,741 doses were administered.
So far over 878 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country.
Health experts say COVID-19 is a cyclical disease and will come in waves.
Last week India's federal health ministry wrote to the seven states including the capital Delhi, asking them to ensure adequate testing, promote COVID-19-appropriate behavior and increase the pace of vaccination to contain the ongoing increase in cases.
The Indian government is focussing on improving booster dose coverage as the uptake for the third dose has been low.
Local governments in various states have issued advisories urging people to wear facemasks and follow COVID-19 protocols in mass gatherings in the wake of an increase in daily infections. ■
