Daily new coronavirus cases in the country have dipped to a nine-month low, as have active coronavirus cases, according to an update from the Health Ministry on November 6.

There were 10,929 new cases reported in the last 24 hours as on November 6 morning and the active caseload stood at 1,46,950 cases, which was a 255-day low. The active cases were 0.43% of the total caseload and was the lowest since March 2020, a Ministry bulletin said.

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The last time daily cases slipped below 10,000 was on February 1 and February 8 and before that on January 25. Currently India’s seven-day average, a steadier metric to gauge the pandemic’s trajectory stood at 12,000 cases. This too is the lowest since February.

States with new cases

The numbers on November 6 bring the country’s overall tally to 3,43,44,683. The top five States that have registered the maximum new cases are Kerala (6,580), Tamil Nadu (875), Maharashtra (802), West Bengal (763) and Mizoram (513).

There were 392 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, increasing the total reported count to 4,60,265. Maximum casualties were reported in Kerala (314), followed by Maharashtra (17).

While the numbers may have hit a nadir, they aren’t evidence that the pandemic has been overcome. In February, with numbers similar to where they are now and even government-backed experts declaring the pandemic is over, the nation was hit by a catastrophic second wave — fronted by the Delta variant — that saw daily cases climb to as many as 400,000 a day and excess deaths in several States many multiples of what was being reported by the Government.

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Vaccination

However, a difference between February and November is vaccination. As of November 6, 74 crore first doses have been administered, which translates to 56% of the population. Close to 34 crore second doses have been administered, which works out to a quarter of the population being fully inoculated.

So far, 108 crore doses have been administered .