CORRECTS - India's daily COVID cases fall below 9,000

CORRECTS TO BILLION IN 6TH PARA

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India's daily COVID-19 cases fell below 9,000 on Tuesday as the country registered 8,865 new infections in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry figures showed.

According to a ministry statement, Tuesday's daily count was the lowest in 287 days. The country's total number of cases has now reached 34.4 million and the death toll stands at 463,852, including 197 new fatalities.

"India's active caseload stands at 130,793, the lowest in 525 days," it added.

It marks the first time in the second wave of the pandemic that the daily case count has fallen below 10,000.​​​​​​​

India this year saw an unprecedented rise in pandemic cases, with daily figures even crossing 400,000. While the country is now seeing a decline in new cases, in most parts of the country, there are fears that cases may increase due to festival season as many areas are witnessing gatherings and events.

As of Monday evening, the country's vaccination coverage had crossed 1.129 billion.