Daily COVID-19 Tally Crosses 800 After 126 Days, 76 Samples Of Variant XBB1.16 In India So Far

For the first time in over four months, the single-day tally of COVID-19 cases in India has crossed the 800 mark.

In the past 24 hours, India added 843 fresh infections, taking the country's caseload so far to 4.46 crore (4,46,94,349), while the active cases climbed to 5,389.

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Highest single-day rise in four months

The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections.

This is the highest single-day COVID-19 tally in 126 days.

On Saturday, four more COVID-19 deaths were reported in India, taking the tally so far to 5,30,799.

While Jharkhand and Maharashtra reported one death each, Kerala reconciled two.

According to the health ministry website, the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.80 per cent.

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The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,58,161 and the case fatality rate stands at 1.19 per cent.

COVID-19 cases rising across India

The number of daily infections had been slowly rising in India in the past couple of weeks, and on March 4, it crossed the 300-mark for the first time in over a hundred days.

On Thursday, the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry wrote to the State governments of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka to follow a five-fold strategy of test, track, treat and vaccinations as these states witness a rise in COVID-19 cases.

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"It is advised that State should examine the situation of COVID-19 at the micro level (district and sub-districts) and maintain focus on the implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of Covid-19 duly ensuring effective compliance with various advisories issued by this Ministry," the letter said.

76 samples of XBB.1.16 variant

Meanwhile, data from INSACOG showed that a total of 76 samples of COVID-19's XBB.1.16 variant have been found in India so far.

The variant has been found across Karnataka (30), Maharashtra (29), Puducherry (7), Delhi (5), Telangana (2), Gujarat (1), Himachal Pradesh (1) and Odisha (1), the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) data showed.

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The XBB 1.16 variant was first found in January when two samples tested positive for the variant; in February, a total of 59 samples were found.

In March, till now 15 samples of the XBB 1.16 variant have been found, the INSACOG said.

XBB.1.16 behind surge in COVID cases

Some experts have attributed the recent rise in COVID-19 cases to this variant.

Former AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, who had led the national COVID task force, said the rise in Covid cases seems to be driven by the XBB 1.16 variant.

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