Covid-19 update: India reports 13k new cases, 108 deaths

India's streak of low numbers of single-day Covid cases continued on Thursday as the country added just 12,923 new infections and 108 more deaths in the last 24-hour, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in its latest update.

With the new additions, the total number of corona cases mounted to 1,08,71,294, while the death toll due to Covid-19 increased to 1,55,360, health officials said.

India has managed to keep its daily cases below 15k for over two weeks now. In yet another major development, the daily Covid-19 deaths have been below the 200-mark for more than a month now.

Active cases in the country are at 1,42,562, with 1,05,73,372 persons cured and discharged so far. A total of 11,764 more patients recovered during the last 24 hours. The recovery rate has increased to 97.26 per cent, while the fatality rate is down to 1.43 per cent.

A total of 20,40,23,840 samples have been tested up to February 10, including 6,99,185 tests on Wednesday: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

India started its covid-19 vaccination programme on January 16. As many as 70,17,114 doses of corona vaccine have been administered in India since the drive began after the approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

The Uttar Pradesh government will cover nearly two lakh frontline workers across 75 districts in the vaccination session taking place on Thursday and Friday.

Here're some more updates:

*A study published by the Imperial College London has found some new symptoms, including chills, loss of appetite, headache and muscle aches, related to the novel coronavirus.

*Germany will extend lockdown efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic for three more weeks till March 7, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the 16 federal state leaders decided on Wednesday.

*No new locally transmitted confirmed cases of Covid-19 were reported Wednesday across the Chinese mainland, the National Health Commission said on Thursday.

* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday called on around 2 million people in Britain's most vulnerable groups to come forward and get their Covid vaccines.

* Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, requesting for Covid-19 vaccines, which India has generously gifted to 20 countries under its vaccine diplomacy.

Meanwhile, the total number of global coronavirus cases has topped 107.3 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.35 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.