Photo: ReutersIndia reported a smaller rise in daily Covid-19 cases for the third straight day on Sunday, but the number of deaths in 24 hours was higher than 4,000, taking the country's death toll to 270,000. Deaths grew by 4,077, while infections rose by 311,170 - the smallest rise in daily cases in over three weeks, health ministry data showed on Sunday. Total infections have risen by over 2 million this week and deaths by nearly 28,000. Federal health officials said on Saturday that the overall rate of positive cases per tests had dipped to 19.8% this week from 21.9% last week, sparking hopes that daily infections have begun to stabilise. India will have 516 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines by July, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday.

Source: Otago Daily Times May 16, 2021 05:37 UTC