Russia sends another plane-load of medicines to help India fight Covid-19

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Russia on Tuesday sent another consignment of medicines to help India fight the second wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.</p>
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This is the third delivery of humanitarian aid from Russia to India during the coronavirus pandemic, after it previously sent shipments including artificial lung ventilators, oxygen equipment and drugs, TASS news agency reported.</p>
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Video footage carried by Russian state-owned news agency TASS and Asian News International (ANI) showed packs of medicines being unloaded from a Russian emergencies ministry plane.</p>
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India's official case load since the start of the pandemic stands at 26.95 million. Deaths due to COVID-19 stand at a total of about 307,231, according to health ministry data.</p>
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"This support is based on exceptional goodwill and mutual trust, as well as the high level of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership," Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin told ANI.</p>
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India's daily count of new coronavirus infections has started declining. It fell to its lowest level in nearly six weeks in the past 24 hours, as the ferocious second wave of the Covid-19  pandemic appeared to be showing signs of receding.</p>
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On Tuesday, the country posted 196,427 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, its lowest daily rise in infections since April 14, and less than half the 414,188 peak reported on May 7. The country's overall officially recorded case load since the start of the pandemic now stands at 26.95 million.</p>
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Deaths due to COVID-19 amounted to 3,511 in the last 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic over a year ago to 307,231, according to health ministry data. The country’s fatality rate due to Covid-19 works out to 1.14 per cent of the total confirmed infections.</p>
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India has so far administered 198,538,999 vaccine doses. That is 14.26 per cent of the country’s population has received at least one or both doses.</p>