As many as six states including Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat have shown a surge in new cases in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Sunday. According to the Ministry, 86.37 percent of new cases in the country are from these six states.
As many as 16,752 new cases and 113 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, bringing the total Covid count in India to 1,10,96,731 and the total number of deaths to 1,57,051. Total active cases stand at 1,64,511. Meanwhile, the number of people vaccinated have amounted to 1,43,01,266.
Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 8,623, followed by Kerala with 3,792, while Punjab reported 593 new cases. Tamil Nadu reported 486 cases, Karnataka reported 523, while Gujarat reported 451 new cases.
The Centre has been engaging with the states and UTs exhibiting a higher caseload of active cases and those reporting a spike in the daily new Covid-19 cases. High-level multidisciplinary teams have also been deputed to Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir to ascertain reasons for the surge and coordinate with the State Health Departments in Covid-19 control and containment measures. During a high-level meeting, the Centre also pushed for an aggressive vaccination drive in these states.
The Cabinet Secretary reiterated that states need to maintain a continued rigorous vigil in terms of containing the spread and not squander away the gains of the collective hard work of the last year. “They were advised not to lower their guard, enforce COVID appropriate behaviour and deal firmly with violations. It was strongly underlined that they need to follow effective surveillance strategies in respect of potential super spreading events,” the Ministry said.
In the wake of a rise in daily Covid-19 cases in Hingoli, Maharashtra, the local administration has decided to impose curfew in the district from March 1 to 7. A total of 46 new Covid-19 cases were found in Hingoli, located in the state’s Marathwada region, raising its tally to 4,083. The coronavirus infection count in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra crossed the 50,000-mark with the addition of 297 cases. The case count now stands at 50,110
Kerala reported 3,254 new Covid-19 cases and 15 deaths in the last 24 hours. There are 49,420 active cases in the state and 10,05,497 people have recovered so far. The death toll is at 4,197.
Delhi reported 197 new cases of Covid-19, 168 recoveries, and only one death. The total number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital stands at 6,39,289, while 6,27,044 patients have been recovered. The death toll of Delhi stands at 10,910.
Andhra Pradesh reported 117 new Covid-19 cases, taking total cases to 8,89,916. Total active cases are 718, recoveries are 8,82,029 and the death toll stands at 7,169.
Meanwhile, Telangana reported 176 new COVID-19 cases and one related death, taking the total tally of cases to 2,98,807 and the death toll to 1,634, respectively.
Goa’s coronavirus caseload went up by 54 and reached 54,986, while the death toll increased by one to touch 795. The recovery count in the state stood at 53,585 after 45 people were discharged during the day, leaving it with 606 active cases.
In Jammu & Kashmir, sixteen travellers among 58 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported even as one new death due to the virus took place in the last 24 hours. 11 of these cases were reported from the Jammu division and 47 from the Kashmir Valley, taking the UT’s overall case count to 1,26,441. Out of the total cases, 823 are reportedly active cases, with 207 in Jammu and 616 in Kashmir.
Nationwide, a total of 1.07 crore people have recovered so far. 11,718 patients recovered and were discharged in the last 24 hours, while 84.19 percent of the new recovered cases were observed to be concentrated in six states.
According to the Health Ministry, India is all set to start the second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive on March 1, 2021, for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
To ramp up the Covid-19 vaccination capacity, around 10,000 private hospitals under Ayushman Bharat PMJAY and more than 600 private hospitals under the Central Government Health Scheme will be utilised. Other private hospitals empanelled under State Govts Health Insurance Scheme can also participate as Covid-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs).
