Coronavirus: India records over 62,000 new cases for second day in a row
India recorded over 300 deaths in a day for the first time this year. Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and MP accounted for 83% of these deaths.
India on Sunday recorded 62,714 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, pushing its overall count to 1,19,71,624, data from the Union health ministry showed. This is India’s highest one-day rise in infections in nearly five months, reported NDTV. With 312 deaths, the toll rose to 1,61,552. This is the first time this year that the country recorded more than 300 deaths in a day, according to PTI.
As many as 1,13,23,762 people have recovered from the disease, and there are 4,86,310 active cases. India’s recovery rate stood at 94.59%. A total of 6,02,69,782 vaccinations have been administered under India’s countrywide inoculation programme that began in January. Of these, 21,54,170 people were vaccinated on Saturday.
The health ministry said that Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu accounted for 81.46% of the daily new cases registered in the last day.
Maharashtra is one of the worst-affected states in India. The state recorded 35,726 new coronavirus cases and 166 deaths on Saturday. In view of the rise in infections, the Maharashtra government has imposed a ban on all social gatherings and other curbs to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Delhi too witnessed its highest single-day jump since mid-December, registering 1,558 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases stood at 6,55,834 on Saturday, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government.
Six states – Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh – accounted for 83% of the deaths recorded in the last day. Fourteen states and Union Territories, including Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Ladakh, did not report any new deaths.
Amid the recent increase in coronavirus cases, the Centre has recommended a five-fold strategy to the affected states and districts. It asked them to take stringent actions in the next two weeks towards containment and contact tracing.
The total number of coronavirus tests conducted in the country crossed 24 crore, the government said.
Globally, Covid-19 has infected 12,66,51,176 people and killed 27,77,020, according to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracker. As many as 7,17,34,178 have recovered from the disease.
