45,892 new cases, 817 deaths reported

NEW DELHI, Jul 8
India on Thursday recorded 45,892 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 817 new deaths, according to the Union Health Ministry dashboard. With this, the country's cumulative Covid-19 infection tally went up to 3,07,09,557 and the total death toll was pushed to 405,028.
The Health Ministry data further showed that the number of active cases went up to 46,07,04, or 1.50% of the total cases and the total number of recoveries stood at 29,843,825, with 44,291 people being discharged in the last 24 hours. The number of tests done during the previous day was 19,07,216.
The country's weekly positivity rate fell to 2.37% and the daily positivity rate stood at 2.42%, less than 3% for the 17th consecutive day, the Health Ministry said. The testing capacity was ramped up and as many as 42.52 crore tests have been conducted so far, the Ministry added.
Meanwhile, the cumulative vaccinations against Covid-19 reached 36,48,47,549, with 33,81,671 people being inoculated on Wednesday.
As the country's second seems to subside, speculations are rife about the third wave arriving in August. According to a report by the State Bank of India (SBI), India may see the third wave from August and it will reach its peak in September. The country's infection tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. The tally went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore Covid-19 cases on May 4 and three crore on June 23.  Hindustan Times