NEW DELHI: India added a record over 2 lakh new COVID-19 infections in a day pushing the total tally of cases to 1,40,74,564, while the active cases surpassed the 14-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

A total of 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases have been registered in a span of 24 hours.

The death toll increased to   1,73,123 with 1,038 daily new fatalities, the highest since  October 3, 2020 the data updated at 8 am showed.

With over 1 lakh infections per day for the ninth consecutive day, India has added 13,88,515 cases in nine days.

Registering a steady increase for the 36th day in a row, the active cases have increased to 14,71,877, comprising 10.46 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 88.31 per cent.

The active caseload was at its lowest at  1,35,926 on February 12 and it was at its highest at 10,17,754 on September 18, 2020.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,24,29,564, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.23 per cent, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past  60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29,  90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 26,20,03,415 samples have been tested up to April 14 with  13,84,549 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 1,038 new fatalities include 278 from Maharashtra,  120 from Chhattisgarh, 104 from Delhi, 73 from Gujarat, 67 from Uttar Pradesh, 63 from Punjab, 51 from Madhya Pradesh, 38 from Karnataka, 31 from Jharkhand, 29  from Rajasthan, 25 from Tamil Nadu, 24 from West Bengal, 22 from Kerala,  21 from Bihar, 18 each  from  Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, 13 each from Uttarakhand and  Himachal Pradesh.

A total of 1,73,123 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 58,804 from Maharashtra, 13,046 from Karnataka,12,970 from Tamil Nadu, 11,540 from Delhi, 10,458 from West Bengal, 9,376 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,672 from Punjab and 7,339 from Andhra Pradesh.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh School Education Department on Tuesdya took a slew of decisions by ordering summer vacation for all government and aided schools (Class I to Class VIII) from April 15 to June 13.

It also order the closure of all private schools (Class I to Class VIII) till April 30. Online classes, however, will continue. Earlier, the closure of Class I to VIII private schools had been ordered till April 15.

Further, summer vacations were also declared for the teachers (Class I to Class VIII) of these schools from April 15 to June 9 on the condition that they won’t leave their official headquarters till the completion of the Class X and Class XII Board examinations and if assigned invigilation or other duties during the Board examinations, they will duly perform those duties.

For the Class X and Class XII pre-board examinations, the department gave the students the option of writing their examination from their homes and submiting the answer books at the nearest government or aided school.

Owing to ongoing corona curfew in large parts of the state, the department also ordered shutdown of all government and private hostels till further orders.

Meanwhile, the state reported the highest single day spike of 8998 cases over the last 24 hours, which was 39% more than the previous day’s highest 6489 new cases.

Out of the 52 districts, 23 districts reported single day spike in three digits, while the two major cities, Indore and Bhopal reporting fresh cases in four digits. The day’s positivity rate too shot up from previous day’s 16.9% to 19.3%.

While Indore reported 1552 cases, Bhopal was close behind with 1456 new cases.

Over the last 24 hours, the state reported deaths of 40 COVID positive patients, which was second only to single day deaths of September 23, 2020, when 45 COVID patients had died in the state on a single day.

MUMBAI: Mumbai on Tuesday reported 7,898 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,35,017, while 26 more patients succumbed to the infection, the city civic body said. The fresh cases were nearly 1,000 higher than Monday when 6,905 infections were reported.

Also, 11,263 people were discharged from hospitals during the day, pushing the number of recovered cases to 4,34,941, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

With this, the number of active cases stood at 86,866 in the financial capital, it said. The BMC said 26 fresh deaths took the toll to 12,086.

With 49,320 more tests conducted to detect coronavirus, the number of samples examined so far rose to 46,99,507, the civic body said.

The COVID-19 recovery rate in the city was 81 per cent, while growth rate of cases between April 6 and 12 stood at 1.79 per cent, it said. There are 89 active containment zones in Mumbai, where 970 buildings have been sealed, the BMC added.

NEW DELHI: Ten states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Kerala have shown a rise in the COVID-19 daily cases accounting for 80.80 per cent of the new infections reported in a day, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A total of 1,61,736 new cases were registered in a span of 24 hours.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 51,751.

It is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 13,604 while Chhattisgarh reported 13,576 new cases.

India’s total active caseload has reached 12,64,698 which now comprises 9.24 per cent of the country’s total infections.

A net increase of 63,689 cases recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The five states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala cumulatively account for 68.85 per cent of India’s total Active Cases.

Maharashtra alone accounts for 44.78 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.

Sixteen states  — Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.

India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,22,53,697  with 97,168 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours.

 Besides, 879 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours.

Ten states account for 88.05 per cent of the new deaths.

Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (258).

Chhattisgarh follows with 132 daily deaths.

Thirteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours.

These are Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Ladakh, Daman and Diu & Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Tripura, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Nagaland, Mizoram,Manipur, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 10.85 crore as the ‘tika utsav’ enters the third day.

Cumulatively, 10,85,33,085 vaccine doses have been administered through 16,08,448 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am.

These include 90,33,621 HCWs who have taken the 1st dose and 55,58,103 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 1,00,78,589 FLWs who have received the 1st dose and 49,19,212 FLWs who have taken the 2nd dose.

Besides, 4,17,12,654 and 22,53,077  beneficiaries more than 60 years old have been administered the 1st and 2nd dose respectively, while 3,42,18,175  and 7,59,654  beneficiaries aged 45 to 60 years have taken the 1st and 2nd doses respectively.

Eight states account for 60.16 per cent of the total doses given so far in the country.

Over 40 lakh vaccination doses were administered in a span of 24 hours.

As on day-87 of the vaccination drive (12th April), 40,04,521 vaccine doses were given.

Out of which, 34,55,640 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 52,087 sessions for 1st dose and 5,48,881 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of vaccine.

“In terms of the number of daily doses administered globally, India continues to remain at the top with an average of 41,69,609 doses administered per day,” the ministry said.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will review the COVID-19 situation in the national capital in a meeting on Monday noon, officials said.

The chief minister termed the situation “very serious” and appealed to people not to step out of houses unless it was urgent.

The officials said the review meeting to be held at 12 pm is likely to be attended by ministers and top officers of the Delhi government.

According a bulletin issued by the department on Sunday, 48 new fatalities were also recorded, pushing the death toll to 11,283.

The fresh cases came out of the record over 1.14 lakh tests conducted the previous day, the bulletin said, adding that the positivity rate stood at 9.43 per cent.

The previous highest single-day spike in Delhi — 8,593 cases — was reported on November 11 last year, while on November 19, the city recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count till date.

Delhi recorded 7,897 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, while 39 more people died due to the coronavirus infection.

The positivity rate had also mounted to 10.21 per cent, breaching the 10-per cent mark for the first time this year.

The positivity rate was above 15 per cent in mid-November last year.

On Friday, 8,521 COVID-19 cases and 39 deaths were recorded in the national capital.

This was also the first time that more than 8,000 cases were recorded in a day this year amid a massive spike in cases over the last few weeks.

On Thursday, the city recorded 7,437 cases.

It was also the first time that over 7,000 cases were reported in a day this year.

On the two preceding days, the number of cases stood above 5,000.

On November 27 last year, the city recorded 5,482 cases.

It registered 6,224 cases on November 24 and 7,486 on November 18, according to official data.

A total of 1,14,288 tests, including 76,954 RT-PCR tests and 37,334 rapid antigen tests, were conducted on Saturday, according to the latest health bulletin.

The total number cases stood at 7,25,197 on Sunday and over 6.

79 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.

The number of active cases rose to 34,341 from 28,773 a day before.

The number of people under home isolation increased to 17,093 from 15,266 on Saturday while the number of containment zones mounted to 5,705 from 5,236, the bulletin said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had warned on Wednesday that the new cases “could surpass” the previous single-day record registered in November, given the pace of the infection spread.

On Sunday, he held a meeting on COVID-19 preparedness.

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday ordered the closure of all schools till April 30, on a day the state reported its highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year.

The coaching centres will also remain closed during the period.

All government and private schools will remain closed till April 30 while pre-scheduled examinations can be held, the statement said.

The government has directed that occupancy at any indoor programme should be not be more than 50 per cent of the capacity of the venue or a maximum of 50 people.

The government said not more than 100 people be allowed to assemble at an open space for any event.

The authorities have also prohibited the distribution of “prasad” at religious places while the retail shops will open from 7 am to 7 pm in the state.

Stressing the need to focus on the “test, trace and treat” approach, the government said the daily count of RT-PCR tests should be taken to one lakh.

Tracing of at least 30-35 persons who have come in contact with a COVID-19 patient should be done, the orders said.

The fresh directions came in the aftermath of a spike in coronavirus cases with the authorities imposing a night curfew in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Allahabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar districts and the Lucknow civic body area.

Earlier on April 2, the UP government had extended till April 11 the closure of all schools for students of Classes 1 to 8.

On Sunday, the state reported its highest single-day spike of 15,353 cases till now.

With 67 fresh deaths, the death toll too have reached 9,152 in the state, which has reported 6,92,015 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Lucknow reported the maximum 4,444 cases, followed by 1,740 in Varanasi, 1,565 in Allahabad and 881 in Kanpur, the UP government said in another statement.

Of the fresh deaths, state capital Lucknow reported the highest 31, followed by nine in Allahabad, eight in Kanpur, two each in Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar and Chandauli and one each in Varanasi, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Ballia, Ayodhya, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Jaunpur, Deoria, Rae Bareli, Ghazipur, Rampur, Basti and Kannauj.

The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 71,241, the statement said.

So far, 6,11,622 COVID-19 patients in the state have recovered from the disease.

Meanwhile, the UP chief minister said an effective COVID-19 vaccination drive should be carried out as a four-day “Tika Utsav” that began in the state on Sunday.

The four-day vaccination programme, which began on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Jyotibha Phule, will continue till April 14, the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.

NEW DELHI: India hit a new coronavirus infection record with 1,68,912 new cases, the highest single-day rise so far, taking the total tally of cases to 1,35,27,717, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The active cases have surpassed the 12-lakh mark, while the death toll increased to 1,70,179 with 904 daily new fatalities, the highest since October 18, 2020, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase for the 33rd day in row, the active cases have increased to 12,01,009 comprising 8.88 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 89.86 per cent.

The active caseload was at its lowest at  1, 35,926 on February 12 and it was at its highest at 10,17,754 on September 18, 2020.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,21,56,529, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.26 per cent, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

It went past  60 lakh on September 28,  70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 25,78,06,986 samples have been tested up to April 11 with 11,80,136 samples being tested on Sunday.

The 904 new fatalities include 349 from Maharashtra, 122 from Chhattisgarh, 67 from Uttar Pradesh, 59 from Punjab, 54from Gujarat, 48 from Delhi, 40 from Karnataka, 24 from Madhya Pradesh, 22 from Tamil Nadu, 21 from Jharkhand, 16 each  from Kerala and Haryana and 10 each from Rajasthan and West Bengal.

A total of 1,70,179 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 57,987 from Maharashtra, 12,908 from Tamil Nadu, 12,889 from Karnataka, 11,283 from Delhi, 10,400 from West Bengal, 9,152 from Uttar Pradesh, 7,507 from Punjab and 7,300 from Andhra Pradesh.

NEW DELHI: With a record 1,45,384 fresh cases, India’s COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,32,05,926, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Registering a steady increase for the 31st day in a row, the number of active coronavirus cases in the country has gone up to 10,46,631, accounting for 7.93 per cent of its total caseload, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 90.80 per cent.

The active caseload was at its lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12, accounting for only 1.25 per cent of the total number of cases in the country.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1,19,90,859, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.28 per cent, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 25,52,14,803 samples have so far been tested in the country for the viral disease, including 11,73,219 on Friday.

The 794 fresh fatalities include 301 from Maharashtra, 91 from Chhattisgarh, 56 from Punjab, 46 from Karnataka, 42 from Gujarat, 39 from Delhi, 36 from Uttar Pradesh, 32 from Rajasthan, 23 each from Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 22 from Kerala, 17 from Jharkhand and 11 each from Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.

Of the total number of 1,68,436 deaths caused by COVID-19 in the country, Maharashtra accounts for 57,329, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,863), Karnataka (12,813), Delhi (11,196), West Bengal (10,378), Uttar Pradesh (9,039), Punjab (7,390) and Andhra Pradesh (7,279).

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that a state-wise distribution of the figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.