India records more than 1,200 new coronavirus deaths

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India registered more than 1,200 coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, according to official figures on Saturday.

With a total of 1,206 news deaths, virus-related fatalities have reached 407,145, according to the Health Ministry.

The country has registered less than 1,000 daily deaths in the past few days.

A statement by the ministry said 42,766 new cases were registered during the last 24 hours.

"India's active caseload currently stands at 455,033. Active cases constitute 1.4 8% of total cases," it said.

The total infection mark stands at 30.7 million as of Saturday morning.

The country is witnessing an overall decline in cases and deaths after a record surge in May.

Health officials, however, expressed concern on Friday about reports that a large number of tourists thronging to hill stations in northern India are not following COVID-19 appropriate behavior.

"Is it not an open invitation for [COVID-19] virus to infect us?," Lav Agarwal, a senior Health Ministry official said during a news conference Friday.

He was referring to video footage from northern Uttarakhand state, where a group of tourists was seen at a waterfall without masks.

Health Ministry figures show more than 370 million vaccine doses have been administered in an ongoing vaccination drive.