India reports 1,31,968 new Covid cases, 780 deaths

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) India has reported 1,31,968 new Covid-19 cases and 780 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry said on Friday.India is now the fourth-worst Covid-hit country worldwide after the number of active cases rose to 9,79,608. The death toll stood at 1,67,642, the Health Ministry said.A total of 61,899 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the number of recoveries to 1,19,13,292 with a recovery rate of 91.22 per cent.The Health Ministry said that a total of 13,64,205 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. So far, 25,40,41,584 samples have been tested. A total of 36,91,511 people were vaccinated in the last 24 hours taking the total vaccination count to 9,43,34,262.In a meeting with chief ministers on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed all states and Union Territories to focus on aggressive testing and micro-containment to curb the spread of Covid-19.
--IANS pd/pgh