COVID-19: India’s daily spike again on rise as five states report new cases

The national COVID-19 positivity rate in the country stands at 5.22% currently, indicating a decline over the past 13 days. However, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have been demonstrating an uptick in the number of cases.

Hyderabad: After dipping below 47,000 new cases a few days back, a spike in daily fresh corona cases has been across the country. As many as 13,919 new Covid-19 cases were detected across the country in the last 24 hours, said the Union health ministry on Sunday.

The national positivity rate in the country stands at 5.22 percent currently, indicating a decline over the past 13 days. However, Maharashtra, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh have witnessed an uptick in the number of cases.

The number of active cases, which was on a steady decline, have seen a rise in the last week. India had 1,43,127 active cases on Saturday.

The ministry stressed the importance of adherence to COVID appropriate behaviour for breaking the chain of transmission and containment of the spread of the disease. Several states and UTs are exhibiting a positivity rate higher than the national average, indicating a need for aggressive and widespread testing.

While the recovery rate stands at 89.61 per cent, the fatality rate is 1.51 per cent, the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare stated.

Kerala continues to report a high number of daily new cases and in the past week. Maharashtra has exhibited a spike in the number of daily new cases, accounting for the highest number of daily new cases in the country on Saturday.

Chhattisgarh records 263 new COVID-19 cases, two deaths

There are now 3,102 active cases of coronavirus infection in Chhattisgarh while the state health ministry on Saturday reported 263 new COVID-19 infections and two fatalities, taking the state's caseload to 3,10,732 and the death toll to 3,795.

The number of recoveries reached 3,03,835 after 23 people were discharged from hospitals and 120 completed the home isolation period, he said.

Raipur district accounted for 75 new cases, taking its total count to 55,084 including 801 deaths. Durg witnessed 57 new cases and Rajnandgaon 14, among other districts. The two fatalities recorded on Saturday had taken place the day before, the official said.

With 22,042 samples tested for coronavirus during the day, the total number of tests conducted in the state has gone up to 46,50,092.

Chhattisgarh's coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 3,10,732, New cases 263, Death toll 3,795, Recovered 3,03,835, Active cases 3,102, Total tests 46,50,092.

Maharashtra continues to be the worst-hit

As Maharashtra grapples with a spike in coronavirus cases, health experts and government officials are putting the onus for the surgeon people not following face mask and social distancing norms.

The surge in COVID-19 cases continued in Maharashtra for the fifth consecutive day on Saturday, with 6281 new cases, the highest daily addition in 85 days, taking the state's caseload to 2093913.

Maharashtra's death toll now stands at 51,753, with the case fatality rate at 2.47 per cent, well above the national figure of 1.42 per cent.

257 new coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh, four deaths

Madhya Pradesh Saturday reported 257 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally of infections to 2,59,128. Four more fatalities pushed the death toll in the State to 3,850, the state health department said. No fresh Covid-19 case was reported in 23 of 52 districts in the state.

A total of 213 patients were discharged from hospitals since Friday evening, taking the count of recoveries in Madhya Pradesh to 2,53,284, the department said.

As many as 9,940 frontline workers were administered the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, taking the overall number of inoculations in the state from January 16 to 6,40,422.

Kerala adds 4,650 fresh coronavirus cases

Kerala on Saturday registered 4,650 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total number of those affected in the state by the deadly virus to 10.30 lakh. 13 Covid-19 related deaths were recorded in the state. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state has tested 65,968 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 7.06 per cent. So far, 1.09 crore samples have been tested by the state.

Rajasthan reports one more COVID-19 death, 98 new cases

One more death was recorded in Rajasthan due to the coronavirus, taking the overall toll in the state to 2,785 as of Saturday. The state also reported 98 new cases Saturday, which pushed the overall infection tally to 3,19,461.

While 3,15,376 people have been discharged after recovering till now, 1,300 people are under treatment.

Gujarat sees 258 COVID-19 cases, 270 recoveries, no death

The number of COVID-19 cases in Gujarat increased by 258 on Saturday to touch 2,66,821, while 270 people were discharged post-recovery. The number of people who have been discharged so far stands at 2,60,745, a recovery rate of 97.72 per cent, while the toll stood unchanged at 4,404 as no death was reported on Saturday. The state now has an active caseload of 1,672.

8 more COVID-19 deaths, 358 new cases in Punjab

The COVID-19 infection tally in Punjab climbed to 1,78,111 with 358 fresh cases reported on Saturday. Eight more fatalities pushed the death toll due to the virus to 5,748, according to the medical bulletin. There are 2,883 active COVID-19 cases in the state, as of now.

So far, a total of 1,06,89,715 people have recovered in the country. In the last 24 hours, 11,667 patients were discharged from the hospitals. Among the newly recovered patients, 81.65% of the cases are from five states.

There are no deaths reported in the last 24 hours in 22 states and union territories. These states include Gujarat, Odisha, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Jharkhand, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Ladakh, Nagaland.