India on Sunday registered 1,52,879 new coronavirus cases, data from the health ministry showed. The country’s overall count of infections since the pandemic broke out last March rose to 1,33,58,805. This is another record daily rise in the number of cases in India since the beginning of the pandemic.

The toll went up to 1,69,275 with 839 more deaths in the last day. India’s tally of active cases stood at 11,08,087, while the number of recoveries reached 1,20,81,443. More than 10 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far.

Five states – Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala – cumulatively account for 70.82% of India’s total active cases, the health ministry said. Maharashtra alone accounts for 48.57% of the total active caseload of the country.

Besides, 10 states – Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – have shown a steep rise in the daily cases, accounting for 80.92% of the new infections reported in 24 hours on Sunday, the health ministry added.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

From Sunday, India began a four-day vaccination festival, even as there are complaints of vaccine shortages in multiple states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for the “tika utsav” on Thursday, during his meeting with chief ministers to discuss the coronavirus situation in India.

Modi had appealed to the citizens to “vaccinate, treat and save” one person each. “This celebration is, in a way, the beginning of another major war against coronavirus,” he said. “In this, we have to put special emphasis on personal as well as social hygiene.”

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and several other states have stepped up efforts to double the number of vaccinations during the inoculation festival, NDTV reported.

Vaccine stock will last only three days: Telangana

Telangana on Saturday told the Centre that its vaccine stocks would last for only three more days, NDTV reported. The state asked the Centre to provide it 30 lakh vaccines for the next 15 days

Punjab and Delhi also told the Centre that they were grappling with shortages amid a surge in infections. Vaccine centres in several states, including Maharashtra, have been shutting early and turning people away due to a lack of supplies. Some centres have been closed due to vaccine shortages.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi government of mismanaging the coronavirus situation in the country. “It [government] has exported the vaccines and allowed a shortage to be created in India,” she said.

State updates

  1. Delhi on Saturday introduced a new set of coronavirus-related restrictions such as limiting the number of people at bars and restaurants and banning most public gatherings. The new rules will remain in force till April 30.
  2. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday indicated that a lockdown might be imposed in the state as coronavirus continued to rise. The state registered 55,411 new coronavirus on Saturday, taking its total count of infections since March 2020 to 33,43,951. The toll there rose to 57,638, with 309 more deaths in the last day.
  3. Meanwhile, Maharashtra has become the first state in the country to administer more than one crore doses of vaccines, the state health department announced on Sunday, reported the Hindustan Times. As of April 11 morning, the state “administered 10,038,421 doses, highest in the country so far,” Pradeep Vyas, the principal secretary of Maharashtra’s health department, said.
  4. Elections to the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation in Gujarat, which were scheduled to take place on April 18, were postponed in view of the rising cases, PTI reported.
  5. A night curfew was imposed in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur city on Saturday amid the surge in infections, according to PTI.
  6. Private vaccination centres in Mumbai will be closed till Monday because of insufficient doses, NDTV reported. The inoculation drive will continue at government hospitals.

Global news

  1. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 13.53 crore people and killed 29,27,806, according to the Johns Hopkins University. More than 7.68 crore people have recovered from the infection.
  2. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will not attend Prince Philip’s funeral on April 17 to allow “as many family members as possible” to go there amid coronavirus restrictions, BBC reported. Only 30 people can attend the funeral.
  3. The United States has administered more than 18 crore vaccine doses since the beginning of its inoculation drive, Reuters reported, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
  4. China reported 10 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, down from 14 infections a day ago, according to Reuters.
  5. Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has tested positive for the coronavirus, Dhaka Tribune reported. The 75-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief’s samples, which were sent to the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, came back positive on Sunday, the country’s Public Relations Officer, Health Ministry, Maidul Islam Prodhan, said. However, Zia’s party denied having any knowledge about her contracting the disease.