India on Sunday recorded 43,846 coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s tally to 1,15,99,130, data from the Union health ministry showed. This is the highest one-day jump in new cases since November 26. With 197 deaths, also the highest in 97 days, the toll climbed to 1,59,755.

There are 3,09,087 active cases, which is 2.66% of the total caseload. The active caseload has increased for the eleventh consecutive day. As many as 1,11,30,288 patients have recovered from the infection. India, which is conducting a mass coronavirus vaccination drive, has so far administered 4,46,03,841 doses, giving 25,40,449 shots on Saturday.

The health ministry said Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh account for 83.14% of the new infections.

Maharashtra, which is one of the worst-affected states in India, on Saturday once again broke its own record and registered 27,126 new coronavirus cases – the highest ever since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

Amid the spike, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said that residents of Mumbai, who have registered themselves on the CoWIN portal, can visit their nearest inoculation centre to receive the jab before their schedule, reported NDTV.

Meanwhile, Delhi also reported its highest daily infection tally, registering 813 new coronavirus cases. With this, the national Capital’s case count stood at 6,47,161.

As infections continue to rise, the Centre has ordered 12 crore more Covid-19 vaccine doses from the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, reported the Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) chief Joginder Singh tested positive for the coronavirus, reported The Indian Express. He is the first farmer union leader to test positive for the infection ever since the protest against the farm laws started.

Global updates

  1. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 12.27 crore people and killed over 27.09 lakh, according to the John Hopkins University. Over 6.94 crore people have recovered from the infection in the world.
  2. The Serum Institute of India has written to Brazil, Morocco and Saudi Arabia that it would not be able to supply Covid-19 they have bought in comings months, reported The Times of India.  
  3. Australian airline Qantas Chief Executive officer Alan Joyce has told the BBC that “governments are going to insist” on Covid-19 vaccines for international travellers. he said that many governments were talking about vaccination as “a condition of entry” in countries.
  4. The United Kingdom on Friday administered a record-high of 7,11,156 doses to its citizens, reported BBC.  This means that It means that half of all the adults in the country, which is around 2,68,53,407, have now received the first dose of a vaccine.