New Delhi:
India's daily coronavirus infections hit another record on Saturday for the highest tally since September, while daily deaths reached a five-month high, a Reuters count based on data from the health ministry showed.
The south Asian nation recorded 89,129 new infections and 714 deaths, the ministry said. That was the biggest single-day rise since September 20 last year and the most deaths since October 21, according to a Reuters tally.
The 714 new fatalities include 481 from Maharashtra, 57 from Punjab, 43 from Chhattisgarh, 16 each from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, 14 each from Kerala and Delhi, 12 from Tamil Nadu, 11 from Gujarat and 10 from Haryana.
Eight states witnessed a steep rise in daily new COVID-19 cases and accounted for 81.42 per cent of the infections reported on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry said.
These eight states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
India's tally of COVID-19 active caseload also increased to 6,58,909 and now comprises 5.32 per cent of the total infections. In a day, there has been a net rise of 44,213 active cases.
Ten districts — Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Bengaluru Urban, Aurangabad, Delhi, Ahmednagar and Nanded — account for 50 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.
Maharashtra has shown a nine-fold jump, the maximum increase in the number of active cases in the last two months. In percentage terms, Punjab has reported the maximum increase in active cases.
Five states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab –cumulatively account for 77.3 per cent of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounts for 59.36 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.
The death toll increased to 1,64,110 with 714 more fatalities in a day, also the highest since October 21.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 47,913, followed by 4,991 in Karnataka and 4,174 in Chhattisgarh.
Twelve states –Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala — are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases, the health ministry said.
India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,15,69,241 with 44,202 recoveries being registered in a day.
Of the 714 fatalities were reported in a day, six states account for 85.85 per cent of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw a maximum of 481 deaths, followed by 57 in Punjab.
Thirteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in a day. These are Odisha, Assam, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.
In a significant development in the fight against COVID-19, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 7.3 crore mark.
Cumulatively, 7,30,54,295 vaccine doses have been administered through 11,53,614 sessions, according to the provisional report till 7 am on Saturday. The cumulative vaccination figure includes over 6 crore first doses, while the second dose numbers are also nearing the 1 crore mark, the ministry said.
Corresponding to the rapid surge in cases, the number of active cases too have registered a steady increase for the 24th day in a row with the tally reaching 658,909, which is 5.32 percent of the total infections. The recovery rate has further dropped to 93.36 per cent, the data stated.The active caseload was the lowest at 135,926 on February 12 and comprised 1.25 percent of the total infections.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 11,569,241 (1.15 crore), while the case fatality rate has dropped to 1.32 percent, the health ministry data stated.
Infections have surged in India since the beginning of March, with its richest state of Maharashtra, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, the worst hit.
Late on Friday, the state's chief minister warned of a full lockdown to curb infections if people did not limit their movements.
The 47,827 Covid cases detected in the state on Friday were nearly double that of the first wave peak of 24,886 reported on September 11, 2020.
Mumbai’s Friday figure of 8,844 was over thrice its first wave peak of 2,848 on October 7. Friday’s figures for Maharashtra and the city are all-time Covid highs for both, with the state coming close to the 50,000 daily detection mark.
For the second day in a row, the state added over 200 deaths — 202. Maharashtra’s overall toll is 55,379, though the state’s cumulative death rate has dropped below 2% (1.91%) with the second wave witnessing fewer deaths despite a rise in cases.
India's capital, New Delhi recorded more than 3,500 cases, its highest this year, but its chief minister ruled out another lockdown for now. Daily coronavirus cases have surged from around 15,000 in early March to 88,000 or so at the start of April.
Of the 164,110 fatalities reported so far in the country, 55,379 are from Maharashtra, 12,750 from Tamil Nadu, 12,591 from Karnataka, 11,050 from Delhi, 10,335 from West Bengal, 8,836 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,225 from Andhra Pradesh and 6,983 from Punjab.
The health ministry has stressed that more than 70 percent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
The number of daily coronavirus cases peaked in September last year with 97,894 infections being reported on the 17th day of the month, after which India began witnessing a gradual decline in cases.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16 last year. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20. The one-crore mark was breached on December 19 last year.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 246,959,192 (24.69 crore) samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to April 2 with 1,046,605 (1.04 crore) of them being tested on April 2.