India's total COVID-19 active caseload dropped to 4,09,689 on Saturday, according to the Union health ministry.
The ministry said that the present active caseload comprises 4.26% of the total positive cases, and new recoveries have led to a net decline of 6,393 in the total active cases, the ministry said in a statement.
"India's total active caseload has dropped below 4.10 lakh (4,09,689) today. This is the lowest after 136 days. The total active cases were 4,11,133, on July 22," it said.
The ministry said that for the past eight days, the daily new recoveries recorded in the country have been more than the daily cases. The country now has a total of 96.45 lakh overall cases of the deadly disease which broke out in China's Wuhan in December last year.
Meanwhile, American pharma giant Pfizer has sought approval from the country's drug regulator - the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) - for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine, say sources. The vaccine is ready to be rolled out in the United Kingdom and Bahrain.
This is the first such request received by the DCGI amid the race to find a vaccine for the deadly virus, which has affected over 96 lakh people in India. The drug regulator may give emergency approval if it is satisfied by the results of the trials conducted outside India, sources have added.
In its application submitted on Friday, Pfizer India seeks permission to "import the vaccine for sale and distribution in the country, besides waiver of clinical trials on Indian population in accordance with the special provisions under the New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019," sources have been quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
