India added 1,52,879 fresh infections reported since Saturday, setting another grim one-day record as the country’s Covid tally reached over 1.33 crore cases. 839 deaths in the last 24 hour pushed the total death count to 1.69 lakh.
Active cases in the country have now crossed the 10 lakh-mark again after around six-and-half-months. Five states – Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala — cumulatively account for 72.23 per cent of the total active cases.
This is the fifth consecutive day that India has recorded more than 1 lakh cases in a day. The new cases reported today are five per cent higher than yesterday when 1,45,384 cases were reported.
The worrying surge has forced many states to consider night curfew and other virus-fighting measures to control the pandemic. In Maharashtra – which accounts for 51.23 per cent of the total active cases – Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has hinted at the possibility of a lockdown.
The Delhi government on Saturday announced new restriction, banning most public gatherings and setting limits for attendance at restaurants, theatres, on public transport and functions like weddings and funerals. Neighbouring Uttar Pradesh has imposed restrictions on gatherings of five or more people at religious people in view of Navratri and Ramzan festivals.
The alarming surge in COVID cases has led to shortage of beds in hospital. In Madhya Pradesh’s Indore – which has been reporting the highest number of cases – relatives of Covid patients were reported to be scrambling for beds as the medical services in the city were struggling to cope with the sharp surge.
More than 10.15 crore doses of vaccines have been administered so far in India in the mass inoculation drive that began early this year. However, several states have claimed they’re facing vaccine shortage despite repeated assurances from the government.
A ‘Tika Utsav’ or vaccine festival is being organised in the country from today to inoculate maximum number of eligible people against the coronavirus. The mass vaccination programme – which will be conducted from April 11-14 – is being held following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to the chief ministers of all states and union territories during a meeting over the coronavirus situation.
India took just 85 days to reach the 100 million dose mark, making it the fastest nation to reach the milestone, according to the government. The US took 89 days and China took 102 days to do the same, the Union Health Ministry said.
