India on Sunday reported 18,711 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s tally to 1,12,10,799, data from the health ministry showed. The toll jumped by 100 to 1,57,756. Over 18,000 cases were also reported after 36 days on Saturday.

The active cases stood at 1,84,523, constituting 1.65% of the total infections. The recoveries reached 1,08,68,520. A total of 14,24,693 vaccine doses were given on Saturday. With this, 2,09,22,344 vaccine doses have been administered so far.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has tested 22,14,30,507 samples till Saturday. As many as 7,37,930 were tested on March 6.

Six states – Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu together accounted for 84.71% of the total cases. As many as 19 states and Union Territories have not reported any deaths in 24 hours.

So far, 14,24,693 shots were administered in last 24 hours, while a total of over 2 crore jabs have been administered.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

Meanwhile, the Centre urged six states and two Union territories, which reported an increase in daily Covid-19 cases, to step up the vaccination process in critical districts, reported The Indian Express. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan also asked Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Chandigarh to tie up with private hospitals for opening up vaccination timetable for at least 15 days and to increase contact-tracing to at least 20 people for every positive case.

India updates

  1. A Gujarat health official tested positive for the coronavirus days after taking the second dose of the vaccine, reported PTI.
  2. Punjab on Saturday reported more than 1,000 cases for the second time in a week, according to the Hindustan Times. The state registered 1,179 infections and 12 related fatalities, taking its caseload to 1,87,348 and toll to 5,910.  
  3. The Indian Army said veterans and their dependents will start getting Covid-19 vaccinations at service hospitals from next week, reported the Hindustan Times. There are more than 32 lakh ex-servicemen in the country.  
  4. A vaccination centre has been set up exclusively for MPs inside the parliament complex to cater to the legislators in the second half of the budget session that will start from March 8, reported the Hindustan Times.
  5. The Supreme Court will start limited physical hearing from March 15 with three days in a week where lawyers will have the option to either appear in person or argue through videoconferencing, reported the Hindustan Times.
  6. Three persons in West Bengal have tested positive for the United Kingdom’s new Covid-19 strain, and one with the Brazilian variant, prompting the administration to take strict precautionary measures, reported PTI.

Global updates

  1. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 11.64 crore people and killed over 25.87 lakh, according to John Hopkins University. Over 6.58 crore people have recovered from the infection in the world.
  2. The United States Senate on Saturday voted to approve a $1.9 trillion (over Rs 130 lakh crore) relief package that President Joe Biden said will revive the country’s pandemic-stricken economy, reported AFP.
  3. Sri Lanka received its first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines provided under the World Health Organisation’s Covax facility on Sunday, PTI reported. “Today we received 2,64,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines state minister of Covid-19 prevention Dr Sudarshini Fernandopulle said.