NEW DELHI: Amid an intensive and accelerating inoculation drive, India is witnessing a worrying spike in the rate of Covid-19 infection across the country with the number hitting 22,854 in the past 24 hours – a two-month high and 27% higher than the previous day’s figure of 17,921. The last time such a peak was reached was on December 26 with 22,273. Yesterday’s government data registered up to 126 deaths in a day.
The worst-hit five states, according to the latest government updates, were Maharashtra (13,659), Kerala (2,475), Punjab (1,393), Karnataka (760), and Gujarat (675). The situation in Maharashtra, which has consistently topped the ranking over the past year, has been under scrutiny for a while with several districts imposing partial lockdowns or night curfews.
The Centre had said earlier this week that eight states and Union territories – Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Haryana – had been displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases, with a weekly positivity rate higher than the national average of 2.29 per cent. High-level Central teams have been deputed to these states, besides Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir, to help them with the situation.
The countrywide vaccination drive, launched in January by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been covering much ground meanwhile with over 2.5 crore people receiving their doses till now – yesterday alone saw 13.17 lakh injections administered. The Central government has ramped up the drive across with the second phase launched on March 1. |
