Karnataka and Kerala on Saturday reported their highest daily coronavirus cases count since the pandemic broke out in January last year. Delhi, meanwhile, recorded its highest single-day toll from Covid-19.

Karnataka registered a record 29,438 cases and 208 deaths in one day on Saturday, reported The Times of India. The total active cases in the state were 2.3 lakh.

Bengaluru district accounted for 60% of the cases and 70% of the fatalities. It logged 17,432 Covid-19 cases, its highest single-day rise in infections. It also registered 149 deaths. Bengaluru currently accounts for over 1.6 lakh of Karnataka’s total active cases.

The Karnataka technical advisory committee on Covid-19 has asked the state government to impose strict curbs. “There are two main strategies,” Public Health Foundation of India’s Giridhar Babu told PTI. “First, we need to reduce the number of cases and that will happen only by a stringent lockdown for at least 14 days. And second, we should expand the bed capacity by taking as [many beds] as possible from private medical colleges, nursing homes and hospitals.”

To rein in the virus, the Karnataka government has imposed night and weekend curfews. The new restrictions, which also include curbs on businesses, will be in place till May 4.

Kerala reports 26,685 daily cases, 25 new deaths

Kerala registered a record high of 26,685 new Covid-19 cases and 25 deaths, reported the Hindustan Times. The active caseload in the state reached 1,98,57. The positivity rate in the state stood at 20.35%.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written another letter to Prime Minister Modi, requesting him to make vaccinations free of cost in the state. “Vaccine pricing is quite high, some studies show,” Vijayan wrote. “We want the government to stick to its age-old policy of giving vaccine free of cost.”

This is the third consecutive day that the daily infection count has crossed the 25,000-mark.

Delhi records highest single-day toll

Delhi recorded the highest single-day rise in its Covid-19 death count with 357 more people dying because of the infection on Saturday, reported NDTV. The toll stood at 13,898.

The national Capital also registered 24,103 new cases, taking the infection tally to 10,04,782.

The daily positivity rate was 32.27%. The active cases mark was also inching closer to the 1-lakh mark with 93,080 infections. As many as 22,695 people recovered on Saturday, taking the tally to 8,97,804.

A total of 74,702 tests, including over 32,000 rapid-antigen tests, were conducted during the period.

Mumbai logs three-week low in daily infections

Mumbai on Saturday registered 5,888 new coronavirus cases since the pandemic broke out in January last year, reported NDTV.

Mumbai’s caseload on Saturday was the lowest since March 31, when it had reported 5,394 new cases. It was the first time since April 12 that the financial capital of India had registered cases below the 7,000-mark.

The daily count of fatalities, however, remained almost the same. It registered 71 deaths on Saturday, 72 on Friday and 75 on Thursday.

The city conducted nearly 40,000 coronavirus tests on Saturday. The daily positivity rate fell to below 15% from the 18% recorded last week.

Maharashtra, however, continued to remain the worst-affected state in the country. On Saturday, the state reported 67,160 new cases and 676 deaths. With these, the infection tally climbed to 42,28,836 and the death toll rose to 63,928, reported Mint. As many as 63,818 patients recovered, taking the tally to 34,68,610.

Pune is the worst-affected district in the state. It reported 10,025 new cases, followed by over 8,000 in Nagpur and around 4,800 in Nashik.