New Delhi: India recorded yet another spike in Covid-19 cases logging 2,68, 833 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, (4,631 more than Friday) the highest in the last 240 days, the Union health ministry informed on Saturday morning. While cases in the national capital may have peaked, cases in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu continued to soar. In many states across India the test positivity remains high and the active caseload continued to witness a rise.
The cases in Maharshtra shot up on Saturday as the state reported 5,705 new cases and 2 deaths in the Pune Municipal Corporation area today. The total number of active cases has reached 31,907. Expressing concern over the rise in COVID-19 cases in Pune and the rest of Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday said that as of now no new restrictions will be brought in but a decision will be taken next week depending upon the scenario. The financial capital, Mumbai reported 10,661 new cases and 11 deaths on Saturday; the number of active cases in the city shot up to 73,518.
Mumbai on Saturday reported 11 new coronavirus-related deaths, the highest single-day toll since July 29 last year, and 10,661 fresh infections, the civic body said. Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said, "We have decided that everyone purchasing self-test kits will have to provide their Aadhar cards to the chemists to maintain a record. If anyone tests positive they must inform the authorities and update this online." Amid the scare caused by the Omicron variant of coronavirus, a senior official of the Maharashtra health department has said that the Delta strain of the virus still accounts for the maximum number of infection cases in the state as revealed by the genome sequencing of the patients' samples. Dr Pradeep Vyas, additional chief secretary of the health department, in a letter written to his colleagues on Wednesday said that the Delta variant was found in 68 per cent samples, out of the over 4,200 analysed, while the remaining 32 per cent patients were found infected with the Omicron strain.
In Karnataka, the test positivity rose to 15 percent with 32,793 new cases reported on Saturday, taking the tally to 31,86,040 and the death toll to 38,418. Meanwhile, Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar said on Saturday, Karnataka has effectively leveraged technology in COVID battle and so far about 2.5 lakh healthcare and frontline staff have been trained through online platforms. Only sick patients requiring emergency care may visit hospitals and autonomous institutions, in view of the prevailing COVID19 situation. All other patients with mild illness shouldn't visit hospitals for the next 2 weeks or until further orders to prevent crowding, the Karnataka governemnt said.
Fresh coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu reached the grim milestone of 24,000 infections in a single day and the new cases in Chennai neared the 9,000-mark. The State on Saturday recorded 23,989 new cases and 11 fatalities. This took the total number of cases reported so far to 29,15,948 and the death toll to 36,967.
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Delhi on Saturday reported 20,718 COVID-19 cases and 30 fatalities while the positivity rate stood at 30.64 per cent. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government will think of easing restrictions when the cases decline to 15,000. The dip in the number of cases, however, can be attributed to fewer tests (67,724) conducted the previous day, a sharp decline as compared to 1.05 lakh tests on January 11.
West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 18,82,761 on Saturday as 19,064 more people tested positive for the infection, 3,581 less than the previous day. The West Bengal government on Saturday extended the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions till January 31, allowing fairs on open grounds in a very restricted manner with strict adherence to safety norms. The state government also allowed marriage functions with a maximum of 200 attendees or 50 per cent of the venue's capacity, whichever is less, it said. Meanwhile, lakhs of pilgrims took their holy dip at Gangasagar here till Saturday afternoon on the occasion of Makar Sankranti with a section of them ignoring the COVID-19 safety protocol.
Uttar Pradesh on Saturday reported 15,795 fresh coronavirus infections that pushed its active caseload to 95,148, while four more fatalities pushed the death toll to 22,953. In the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases, the Mathura district administration has organised mega vaccination camps on Sunday, a senior official said. The mega camps will be held in 480 places in the district, Mathura District Magistrate Navneet Singh Chahal said on Saturday.
Gujarat on Saturday reported seven COVID-19 fatalities, the highest rise in a single day in the last few months, taking the overall toll to 10,151. However, the new cases in the state dropped for the second consecutive day on Saturday with the registration of 9,177 infections.
Rajasthan on Saturday recorded 9,676 fresh COVID-19 cases and eight more deaths due to the viral disease. Jaipur reported the maximum number of fresh cases at 1,973, followed by 861 from Jodhpur.
Bihar's COVID-19 tally rose to 7,81,716 on Saturday as 6,325 people tested positive for the infection, 216 less than the previous day, while four fresh fatalities pushed the state's toll to 12,127.
Twenty-two more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Punjab while 6,883 fresh coronavirus cases took the infection tally to 6,56,549. Six new fatalities were reported on Saturday. The fresh deaths pushed the pandemic toll to 16,754 in the state. The number of active cases rose to 37,546 from 34,303 on Friday.
Assam reported 3,390 new cases, 4 deaths and 876 recoveries on Saturday. The active cases in the state stands at 17,777. The positivity rate increased to nearly 10 percent.
Goa reports 3,274 new cases and 4 deaths on Saturday. The active caseload stands at 20,078.
Telangana on Saturday reported 1,963 fresh COVID-19 cases and took the tally to 7, 07,162 while the death toll rose to 4,054 with two more fatalities. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) recorded the highest number of fresh cases with 1,075 followed by Rangareddy (168) and Medchal Malkajgiri (150) districts
Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday recorded 3,251 fresh COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day spike in infections so far this year, taking the virus tally to 3,55,874, while four related deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 caseload rose to 10,55,753 on Saturday with 5,525 new infections coming to light during the day. The state reported 8 new deaths. The active caseload in the state stands at 32,139.
Chandigarh reported 1,795 new cases on Saturday, The active cases in the Union Territory stands at 8,511 and the positivity rate has reached 26.71 percent.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday said the COVID clusters in the state were increasing and warned that there are chances of a rapid spread of coronavirus within the next three weeks. There are currently 78 COVID clusters in the state.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 156 crore with more than 57 lakh vaccine doses administered on Saturday, the Union health ministry said. More than 42,69,993 'precaution' doses for the identified categories of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccination have been administered so far.
(With agency inputs)
