India reports 1,68,912 new COVID-19 cases

India recorded 1,68,912 new COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the sixth record rise in seven days, pushing the country’s caseload to over 1.35 crore. The resurgence of the virus led to 904 new deaths, taking the total death count to 1,70,179.

India’s tally of more than 1.35 crore Covid cases is the second-highest globally, behind the United States and just ahead of Brazil’s.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state with 63,294 new cases and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours. The state government is likely to take a call on announcing a complete lockdown in the state this week.

In terms of the total caseload, Maharashtra is followed by the southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Delhi also witnessed the highest single-day spike with 10,774 new COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths reported. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said this is the fourth wave in the capital and that it is “much more dangerous”. He will hold a key meeting today to take stock of the situation.

Gujarat on Sunday reported 5,469 new cases of coronavirus, which took its caseload to 3,47,495. The Gujarat High Court initiated a public interest litigation on its own over the pandemic, observing that media reports on the pandemic indicate that the state was heading towards a “health emergency of sorts”.

With over 29.33 lakh vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours, the country has administered over 10.45 crore doses so far.

Central teams have reported non-adherence of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in almost all of the 50 most-affected districts in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Punjab, the Union health ministry said, urging the states for a strict enforcement of rules.

With 50 per cent of the staff at the Supreme Court testing positive for the virus, judges will hear cases through video conference from homes, sources said. The entire court premises, including courtrooms, are getting sanitised.

The government on Sunday banned the export of anti-viral drug Remdesivir and its active pharmaceutical ingredients as demand rocketed due to a record surge in COVID-19 infections, leading to a crippling shortages in many parts.