New Delhi: On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair an all-party meeting to discuss the situation at COVID-19. The second all-party meeting, which comes in the middle of a sudden spurt in the COVID-19 cases, will take place virtually at about 10.30 a.m. The meeting assumes significance as it is being held after the  Prime Minister's visit to Zydus Cadila, Bharat Biotech, and the Serum Institute of India (SII) to personally evaluate the production of coronavirus vaccine work there.  

The top brass of the government including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Pralhad Joshi are expected to attend the meeting.

Meanwhile, for the seventh time this month, the number of COVID-19 cases reported in India over a 24-hour period fell below 40,000, raising the infection total to 94.31 lakh, while the recovery increased to 88,47,600. With 38,772 new infections, the cumulative cases of coronavirus rose to 94,31,691, while the death toll climbed to 1,37,139 after 443 more deaths were reported.

The number of people recovered from the disease rose to 88,47,600, raising the national rate of recovery to 93.81 per cent. The case fatality rate of COVID-19 decreased further to 1.45 per cent. In the world, there are 4,46,952 active cases that make up 4.74 percent of the overall caseload.

On August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5, India's COVID-19 tally surpassed the 20-lakh mark. It reached 50 lakh on 16 September, 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, 80 lakh on 29 October, and exceeded 90 lakh on 20 November.