New Delhi: There seems to be no respite from the Covid-19 pandemic. In the last 24 hours, more than 72,330 more people tested positive for Covid-19 and in the process taking the total to 1,22,21,665, said Union health ministry on Thursday. This is the biggest jump in daily infections in six months.
Five states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Chhattisgarh — cumulatively account for over 79% of the total Covid-19 active cases in the country, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
Among these, Maharashtra continues to be the biggest contributor to the daily tally. The state reported 39,544 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday.
In addition to this, 459 more people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the country to 1,62,927. The fatality count has seen a major jump when compared to Wednesday, when the number stood at 354.
As many as 40,382 people recuperate from the disease in the same duration. The total number of recoveries in the country now stands at 1,14,74,683.
As a result, there are 5,84,055 active cases in the country currently. The active tally had breached the five-lakh mark on Monday and is now close to crossing six-lakh cases again.
India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, 40 lakh on 5 September and 50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on 20 November and surpassed the one-crore mark on 19 December.
A total of 24,47,98,621 samples have been tested for Covid-19 so far, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Thursday.
Out of these, 11,25,681 samples were tested on Wednesday.
The country has so far administered 6,51,17,896 anti-Covid shots.
The inoculation drive in India was rolled out on 16 January with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of the frontline workers started from 2 February.
