New Delhi: The number of Coronavirus cases in India hit a record daily high since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country with over 1.07 lakh new infections reported on Tuesday, according to a national news agency quoting data provided by governments of various states and Union territories.
The Union Health ministry on Tuesday said India recorded 96,982 infections in the last 24 hours that increased Coronavirus caseload to over 1.26 crore with the Centre raising an alarm over the sudden spurt in fresh cases by maintaining that the next four weeks are going to be very critical as the deadly virus is spreading at a fast pace with an increase in the intensity of the pandemic.
Eight states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat are the concern areas that have shown a steep rise in the Covid daily cases accounting for 80.04 per cent of the new cases being reported in a span of 24 hours.
The total confirmed cases have mounted to 1,26,86,049, which includes 7,88,223 active cases, 1,17,32,279 recoveries and 1,65,547 deaths. The country has reported 50,143 recoveries and 446 deaths in the last 24 hours.
On the vaccination front, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 8.40 crore on Tuesday as a total of 8,40,65,357 vaccine doses have been given till 8 pm.
Given the 'huge' rise in infections, states started gearing up to tackle the pandemic by taking initial preventive measures without disturbing economic activities as most of the states have imposed night curfews from 10 pm to 5 am, while some have decided to shut down educational institutions to stop the transmission of the virus.
In a latest, the Delhi government has imposed night curfew from Tuesday to April 30 from 10 pm to 5 am and Gujarat High Court has asked the state government to consider imposing a curfew for a few days as the pandemic situation was getting 'out of control'.
Reportedly, both the states have recorded over 3,000 fresh cases in the last 24 hours.
During an online hearing, a bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Bhargav Karia said a lockdown or curfew for three to four days is needed to curb the spread of the virus as the night curfew imposed between 9 pm and 6 am in four major cities of Gujarat was not proving to be effective.
Taking a note of "poor show" by government employees for the vaccination, all Central government employees of the age of 45 years
and above have been asked to get themselves vaccinated so as to
effectively contain the spread of Covid-19.
In a related development, the Union Health ministry has decided that the on-site registration for Covid-19 vaccination for healthcare and frontline workers aged 18 to 44 years will now be only available at government vaccination centres and not at private inoculation centres. Both, the healthcare and frontline workers, will have to produce original photo identity cards and a copy of their employment certificate.
Concerned over surge in Covid-19 cases, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting that vaccination be allowed for all people above the age of 18 years.
"At present, we are vaccinating the population above 45 years. We request the following suggestions in the Covid-19 vaccination drive — all citizens above 18 years of age shall be permitted to receive Covid vaccination and walk-in Covid vaccination should be available for all, free of cost at their nearest possible place," the IMA said in its letter to the Prime Minister.
However, reacting to the demand from the states for lowering the age for vaccination, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that the aim for vaccination is to cover people who need the vaccine, not those who want it.
While addressing reporters, Bhushan said: "Out of the top 10 districts having the most active Covid cases, seven districts are from Maharashtra, one from Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Delhi, each. Of all the active cases in the country, 58 per cent of active cases are in Maharashtra, and 34 per cent of the total deaths have been reported from the state."