India's daily COVID-19 caseload falls to 18,738

NEW DELHI, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- India reported 18,738 new cases of COVID-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,145,732 in the country, according to federal health ministry data released on Sunday morning.

The cases reported on Sunday marked a decrease in comparison to the daily caseload of Saturday 19,406.

With the reporting of fresh cases, India's active caseload currently stands at 134,933.

The country also logged 40 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 526,689 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

The daily positivity rate stands at 5.02 percent and the weekly positivity rate was recorded at 4.63 percent, the ministry data showed.

The ministry said so far 43,484,110 people have been successfully cured and discharged from hospitals, of whom 18,558 were discharged during the past 24 hours.

According to the ministry, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage in the country has exceeded 2 billion doses and until Sunday morning 2,062,179,411 doses were administered.

So far over 877 million COVID-19 tests have been conducted across the country.

Health experts say COVID-19 is a cyclical disease and will come in waves.

On Saturday India's federal health ministry wrote to the seven states including the capital Delhi asking them to ensure adequate testing, promote COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and increase the pace of vaccination to contain the ongoing increase in cases.

The letter warns that the upcoming festivals and mass congregations in different parts of the country may potentially facilitate the transmission of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.