India’s daily Covid-19 cases highest in 140 days with 1,300 new infections

India has seen a rise in Covid-19 cases with 1,300 new infections reported, the highest in 140 days, according to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry. Active cases have also risen to 7,605, while the death toll has increased to 5,30,816, with three deaths reported in Karnataka, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.46 per cent, while the weekly positivity was  at 1.08 per cent. A total of 92.06 crore tests have been conducted including 89,078 in the last 24 hours. As many as 4,41,60,997 individuals have recovered from the illness, clocking a national recovery rate of 98.79 per cent. India has so far administered a total of 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine as per the ministry’s website.

With a significant rise in the number of daily cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed  to track newer variants and carry out effective monitoring of influenza-like illnesses and severe acute respiratory infections. He has also urged people to follow respiratory hygiene and Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. At a high-level meeting to review the country’s Covid-19 and influenza situations, the PM was informed regarding the availability and prices of 20 major Covid drugs, 12 other drugs, 8 buffer drugs, and one influenza drug that are being monitored.

Maharashtra recorded 334 fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, 54 more than a day before, and one fatality, the health department said in a bulletin.  In Mumbai, 71 out of 1290 people who took the test were found to be positive. Hence, the test positivity rate stood at 5.5 per cent. There are 361 active cases in Mumbai. While 26 of the patients are in hospital, 10 among them are on oxygen support.With the new cases, the state’s Covid-19 tally rose to 81,40,479 and the death toll to 1,48,430.