89K: India logs most no. of Covid daily cases globally
New Delhi: With India recording 89,129 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, the country has logged the highest number of new infections in the world in a single day followed by the USA that reported over 70,000 new cases of Coronavirus and Brazil logging 69,662 fresh infections in a day.
According to the Union Health ministry's data, which was updated at 8 am on Saturday, the confirmed cases of Covid-19 have mounted to 1,23,92,260, which is the third-highest in the world as against the US with 3,13,15,968 cases at the top and Brazil at the second position with a total of 1,29,12,379 cases of Coronavirus.
Of the total 1,23,92,260 cases, 6,58,909 are active cases, while 1,15,69,241 have recovered from the disease and 1,64,110 have succumbed to the virus till date. The country has reported 44,202 recoveries and 714 fatalities in the last 24 hours. Notably, the country has reported 4,20,636 new Covid-19 cases in the last six days.
As per the data, eight states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh — have witnessed a steep rise in daily new Covid cases and accounted for 81.42 per cent of the infections reported on Saturday.
There are 10 districts that account for 50 per cent of the total active caseload of the country. These districts are Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Bengaluru Urban, Aurangabad, Delhi, Ahmednagar and Nanded.
However, India on Saturday vaccinated a total of 13,00,146 beneficiaries till 8 pm till the 78th day of nationwide Covid-19 vaccination, which began on January 16.
As per the Union Health ministry's provisional report, a total of 7,44,42,267 vaccine doses have been given till 8 pm on Saturday. Of the total, 89,53,552 healthcare workers have taken the first dose and 53,06,671 healthcare workers have taken the second dose, while 96,19,289 frontline workers have been given the first dose and 40,18,526 frontline workers have been administered the second dose of the vaccine.
There are 4,57,78,875 beneficiaries belonging to more than 45 years old who have taken the first dose and 7,65,354 of such age groups have taken the second dose.
Meanwhile, the BCCI remains hopeful of conducting the scheduled IPL matches in Mumbai from April 10-25 despite a massive surge in Covid cases in the city and 10 members of the Wankhede Stadium staff testing positive for the deadly virus.
Indore and Hyderabad have been kept as standby venues for the IPL in case the Covid situation spirals out of control. Mumbai is scheduled to host 10 games of the cash-rich league.
Ahead of the Tamil Nadu elections, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and MP Kanimozhi tested positive for Coronavirus on Saturday. She will be undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital in Chennai.
As a star campaigner, Kanimozhi, who represents Thoothukudi in the Lok Sabha, has been involved in campaigning for the DMK for the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls. She is currently in home isolation and has cancelled all of her events ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
The Tamil Nadu Assembly election will be held in a single phase on April 6. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. Veteran politician and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, who tested positive recently, was on Saturday admitted to a hospital as a precautionary measure.
Taking to Twitter, his son Omar Abdullah said Farooq Abdullah has been admitted to hospital in Srinagar based on the advice of doctors "to enable them to better monitor" him.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals' and India all-rounder Axar Patel tested positive for COVID-19 and is in isolation, the IPL franchise said on Saturday. Patel is the second IPL player to have returned a positive report after Nitish Rana.
"Delhi Capitals all-rounder Axar Patel has tested positive for COVID-19. He had checked into the team hotel in Mumbai on March 28, 2021, with a negative report. His report from the second COVID test came positive," the franchise said in a statement.
