Highlights
- 904 new Covid deaths took India’s total death count to 1,70,179
- Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state with 63,294 new cases
- The country has administered over 10.45 crore doses so far
New Delhi:
India recorded 1,68,912 new Covid cases 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.
Here’s your 10-point cheatsheet to coronavirus in India:
- 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”.
- Despite the country being in the grips of the deadly wave of the pandemic, lakhs of devotees from across the country have gathered in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar for the Kumbh Mela – one of the largest religious gatherings in the world. More than one lakh devotees were seen on the banks of the Ganga river, in clear violation of the COVID-19 rules.
- 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 percent 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.