India has set another record of daily Covid cases with 1,31,968 infections in the last 24 hours, pushing the total case count to over 1.3 crore. This is the fourth time in five days that India has reported over one lakh new cases. At least 1,67,642 people have died of Covid-19 in India so far, with 780 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The surge, much steeper than last year›s first wave, has forced many states to impose tight restrictions, which has led to migrant workers flocking back to their respective states in a repeat of the migrant labour crisis seen during the nationwide lockdown in 2020.
In Mumbai, where the Covid-19 tally crossed the five lakh-mark, hundreds of migrants were seen packed into trains as establishments like bars, malls and restaurants have been forced to close in the country’s financial capital. Reuters quoted 31-year-old Surender Puri, who was boarding a train back to his hometown after losing his job as a cook in Mumbai, as saying, “There is no other option for me except to return because cooking is the only skill I brought to Mumbai.”
It is feared that this second exodus can spread the virus to India’s smaller towns and villages.
Most of the new cases are coming from India’s worst-affected state, Maharashtra, which reported a jump of 58,993 cases, taking its active case tally to 5,34,603. Meanwhile, the 301 fresh deaths in the last 24 hours took the state›s case fatality rate to 1.74 percent. At present, 26,95,065 people are in home quarantine in Maharashtra while 24,157 are in institutional quarantine.
The state capital Mumbai also saw the addition of 9,200 cases, while the death toll reached 11,909 as 35 more patients died. With the new cases, Mumbai’s caseload mounted to 5,00,898, while the number of active Covid-19 cases increased to 90,333.
Delhi recorded as many as 8,521 fresh coronavirus cases, the sharpest daily spike this year. With this, the tally of Covid-19 cases in the national capital has reached over 7.06 lakh, while the death toll has mounted to 11,196. 39 fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours. The case tally stands at 7,06,526 in the capital, including 6,68,699 patients who have either been discharged or have migrated or recovered, Meanwhile, the Delhi Government announced to close all schools and colleges given the huge rise in coronavirus cases in the capital, along with other parts of the country.
Uttar Pradesh reported 36 more fatalities due to the coronavirus infection and 9,587 new cases, raising the Covid-19 death count to 9,039 and the case tally to 6,63,991. There are 48,306 active cases, while 6,06,646 patients have recovered so far in the state. Gujarat reported 4,541 new Covid cases, 42 deaths and 2,280 discharges in the last 24 hours. With this, the case tally in the state rose to 337,015.
Rajasthan recorded 3,970 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection count to 3,54,287, while 12 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,898. Of the fresh cases, a maximum of 767 infections were recorded in Jaipur, followed by 498 in Jodhpur, 439 in Kota, 360 in Udaipur, 340 in Dungarpur, and 245 in Bhilwara, among others.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 808 new Covid-19 cases, which took the tally to 1,36,470, while four deaths in the past 24 hours pushed the toll to 2,023 in the union territory. Out of the fresh cases, 283 were reported from the Jammu division and 525 from the Kashmir division.
Karnataka logged 7,955 new Covid-19 cases and 46 related fatalities, taking the total number of infections to 10.48 lakh and the death toll to 12,813. Out of the 7,955 fresh cases reported, 5,576 cases were from Bengaluru Urban alone. The day also saw 3,220 patients getting discharged after recovery.
Kerala recorded 5,063 new Covid-19 cases, including 25 health workers, taking the total caseload to 11.54 lakh and active cases to 36,185. The toll touched 4,750 with 22 deaths. As many as 2,475 people have been cured of the infection, taking the state’s total recoveries to 11,12,758.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS