Record 24,000 coronavirus cases in 24 hours; India now trailing close behind Russia

India registered record 24,850 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, bringing the tally to 6,73,165; India is now trailing close behind Russia, the third worst-hit nation. According to health ministry data, India now has a total death count to 19,268. NDTV reported that this is the ninth consecutive day that India's coronavirus infections increased by more than 18,000.

The number of recoveries stands at 4,09,082. There are 2,44,814 active cases of infections presently in the country.

Of the 613 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, 295 are from Maharashtra, 81 from Delhi, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 42 from Karnataka, 24 from Uttar Pradesh, 21 from Gujarat, 19 from West Bengal, 12 from Andhra Pradesh, nine from Bihar, eight from Jammu and Kashmir, seven from Rajasthan, five each in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab and Telangana, two each from Goa and Jharkhand and one from Himachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, as experts cautioned against rushing the process for developing a COVID-19 vaccine after the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) stated its plans to launch one by August 15, the apex health research body stressed that it is acting in accordance with the globally accepted norms to fast-track vaccine development for diseases of pandemic potential.

The ICMR said that the letter by Director General of ICMR Dr Balram Bhargava to principal investigators of the clinical trial sites was meant to cut unnecessary red tape, without bypassing any necessary process, and speed up recruitment of participants.

Bhargava had on July 2 written to principal investigators of select medical institutions and hospitals to fast-track human clinical trial approvals for the vaccine candidate COVAXIN being developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech.

"All other vaccine candidates across the globe have been similarly fast-tracked," the ICMR said, adding that the Drugs Controller General of India has accorded permission to conduct phase 1 and 2 (human) clinical trial of COVAXIN based on in-depth scrutiny of the available data from pre-clinical studies.

Just as red tape was not allowed to become a hindrance in the fast track approval of new indigenous testing kits or for introducing in the Indian market potential COVID-19 related drugs, the indigenous vaccine development process has also been sought to be insulated from slow file movement, it said.

-Inputs from PTI