Registering a steady increase for the 19th day in a row, the active cases have increased to 5,21,808, which comprise 4.33 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.32 per cent, the data stated.
A total of 68,020 new cases were reported in a day, the highest recorded since October 11 last year, taking the country’s tally of cases to 1,20,39,644, while the death toll increased to 1,61,843 with 291 fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
As many as 74,383 new cases were recorded in a span of 24 hours on October 11.
However, a majority of the new cases are restricted to only a selected states. Eight States — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh have reported high number of Covid daily new cases. 84.5% of the new cases are reported from these 8 states.
There are ten states where the number of cases have been rising since the last two weeks.
The number of active cases have crossed the 5 lakh mark. It took only four days for active cases to cross from four to five lakh, making it the fastest rise.
However, 80% of the active cases are localised to only five states.
The 291 new fatalities include 108 from Maharashtra, 69 from Punjab, 15 from Chhattisgarh, 12 each from Kerala and Karnataka, and 11 each from Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
A total of 1,61,843 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 54,181 from Maharashtra, 12,670 from Tamil Nadu, 12,504 from Karnataka, 11,006 from Delhi, 10,324 from West Bengal, 8,786 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,205 from Andhra Pradesh and 6,690 from Punjab.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
According to the ministry, the total vaccination coverage in India has crossed 6 crore.
More than 6.05 crore (6,05,30,435) vaccine doses have been administered through 9,92,483 sessions, according to the provisional report till 7 am.
This includes 81,56,997 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose, 51,78,065 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 89,12,113 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose and 36,92,136 FLWs who have taken the second dose, the ministry said.
Besides, 67,31,223 beneficiaries aged above 45 with specific comorbidities and 2,78,59,901 aged above 60 have also been administered the first dose.
Eight states — Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra — account for 60 per cent of the cumulative vaccine doses administered so far in India.
On March 28, the 72nd day of the vaccination drive, a total of 2,60,653 vaccine doses were given. Of these, 2,18,798 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 7,465 sessions for the first dose of the vaccine and 41,855 HCWs and FLWs received the second dose, the ministry said.
(With inputs from agencies)