India recorded a new high of 59,118 new Covid-19 cases on Friday morning, taking its total tally to 1,18,46,652 infections.
In light of the rapid surge in cases, the government’s nationwide Covid vaccination campaign will be widened in the “near future” to include people from more age groups, announced Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday. Currently, the program is restricted to people aged above 45 years.
This news comes as official Health Ministry data shows prominent second waves of the infection in six states—Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.
Maharashtra reported 36,902 new coronavirus cases on Friday evening, the highest one-day rise so far, taking its tally to 26,37,735. The state’s death toll reached 53,907 with 112 fatalities, according to the health department. Given the steady rise in cases, the state is imposing a night curfew from 28 March. The Disaster Management and Rehabilitation Department will issue a separate order in this regard, said the Chief Minister’s office. Maharashtra alone contributes to almost 62 percent of the cases in India.
Gujarat reported 2,190 new cases, the highest daily rise so far, which took its caseload to 2,96,320, the health department said. For the first time since the pandemic began, the one-day rise in cases crossed the 2,000-mark in the state. Six deaths during the day pushed the toll to 4,479, officials said.
Kerala reported 1,825 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths on Friday. The active caseload dropped to 24,274 even as the toll reached 4,553. At 262, Kozhikode reported the highest number of cases, followed by Kannur at 245 and Kollam at 173.
The coronavirus graph continued its upward trend in Tamil Nadu as well. The state logged 1,971 cases and nine fatalities, pushing the caseload to 8,75,190 and the toll to 12,650, the health department said.
Madhya Pradesh on Friday reported 2,091 new Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 2,84,265, while nine deaths increased the toll to 3,937, a health official said. As many as 1,048 people were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries in Madhya Pradesh to 2,68,290, he added.
Goa’s coronavirus caseload went up by 113 and reached 57,283 on Friday, while the number of deaths increased by one and the recovery count by 111, an official said. So far, 823 people have died of the infection and 55,181 have been discharged, leaving the state with an active caseload of 1,279, he added.
Uttar Pradesh recorded over 1,000 fresh cases after a period of three months, while the death toll rose to 8,779 on Friday with six more fatalities, an official said. At present, there are 5,824 active cases, of which 3,383 are under home isolation, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 210 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, including 57 travellers, taking the infection tally to 1,29,413, while one more fatality pushed the death toll in the Union Territory to 1,984, officials said. 41 of the new cases were from the Jammu division and 169 from the Kashmir division, they said.
Three coronavirus-related deaths and 853 positive cases were reported in Rajasthan on Friday, taking the total fatalities to 2,811 and the caseload to 3,28,743, respectively, the state health bulletin showed. The deaths occurred in Pratapgarh, Rajsamand and Ajmer (one each) while the maximum number of fresh cases were reported in Jaipur where 140 persons tested positive for the virus.
The upward spiral of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh also continued, with the gross inching towards the 9 lakh-mark, as 984 positives were added afresh on Friday. This was the highest increase in cases in a day after four months, which took the overall to 8,96,863 from a total of 1.49 crore tests, at an overall rate of 6.01 percent.