Third Wave: India Reports 2.4 Lakh COVID Cases In A Day; Highest Single Day Tally Since May
With an increase of nearly 50,000 infections from the previous day, India on Thursday recorded 2,47,417 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours.
This is the highest single-day rise since May when the country was in the grip of the second wave of COVID-19.
A total of 2,57,299 coronavirus infections were reported in a single day on May 21 last year.
With the highest number of new coronavirus infections in 236 days, the total tally of COVID-19 cases has now reached 3,63,17,927.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in India rose to 11,17,531, the highest in 216 days, while the death toll has climbed to 4,85,035 with 380 fresh fatalities.
The 380 new fatalities include 199 from Kerala and 40 from Delhi.
A total of 4,85,035 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 1,41,701 from Maharashtra, 50,076 from Kerala, 38,389 from Karnataka, 36,905 from Tamil Nadu, 25,240 from Delhi, 22,940 from Uttar Pradesh and 19,959 from West Bengal.
The ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
Omicron cases rise too
The country saw a single day jump of 620 cases of the Omicron variant, the highest so far, taking the total tally of such cases to 5,488, out of which 2,162 people have recovered or migrated so far.
Maharashtra recorded the maximum number of 1,367 cases of the Omicron variant followed by Rajasthan at 792, Delhi 549, Kerala 486 and Karnataka 479.
The active cases comprise 3.08 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate decreased to 95.59 per cent.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 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. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.
Earlier, experts had warned that India is likely to witness a sharp spike in the number of cases in the coming days, however, following COVID appropriate behaviour and vaccination could help contain the spread of the disease.
"The peak will depend on the virus transmission, and how well the community adheres to the COVID appropriate behaviour. If the COVID norms are violated, a faster and taller peak is likely to occur. On the other hand, vaccination and administrative actions like night curfews, and weekend curfews tend to flatten the curve," Chairman of COVID-19 Working Group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Dr NK Arora said.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit?Indiatimes News.
