India records biggest spike in fatalities this year, active tally inching towards 5-lakh mark
India clocked in 62,714 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally to 1,19,71,624, said the Union health ministry on Sunday.
The new infections reported only a slight jump as compared to Saturday, when the country had seen 62,258 more people testing positive for the virus.
However, it is still is the biggest spike in new infections recorded in the country this year and the highest in over 160 days. India had last seen over 62,000 new cases on 16 October last year.
Six states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh — account for 79.57% of the daily new infections, the health ministry had stated on Saturday.
Among these, Maharashtra continues to be the biggest contributor to the daily tally. The state had 35,726 more people testing positive for Covid-19 in the 24 hours ending on Saturday evening.
In addition to this, the death toll in the country has reached 1,61,552 with 312 more people succumbing to the disease in the same duration. The number of fatalities has seen a huge jump and has crossed the 300-mark for the first time this year.
As many as 28,739 recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,13,23762.
As a result, the active cases in the country stand at 4,86,310. The active tally breached the four-lakh mark on Friday, when the number was 4,21,066.
It is now close to crossing the five-lakh mark yet again.
The Centre on Saturday chaired a high-level meet with 12 states and union territories (UTs) reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases. States and UTs were advised to focus on stringent containment and public health measures in 46 high burden districts.
India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, 40 lakh on 5 September and 50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on 20 November and surpassed the one-crore mark on 19 December.
Tests conducted so far
India had tested 24,09,50,842 samples for Covid-19 until Saturday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Out of these, 11,81,289 were tested on Saturday.
Vaccinations in India
The country has so far administered 6,02,69,782 anti-Covid jabs, crossing the six-crore milestone.
The five-crore mark in vaccination was crossed on 23 March.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on 16 January with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of the frontline workers started from 2 February.
The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced on 1 March for those who are above 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.
