India’s daily tally at 4-month high with 17,336 Covid cases

India reported 17,336 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily figure reported since midFebruary, as the country is witnessing an upward tick in infections amid fears of a new wave.

The 24-hour figure indicates a massive 30 per cent jump since Thursday’s infections. Besides, 13 more people died during this period, increasing the virus-related death count to 5,24,954.

The active cases tally has increased to 88,284, an increase of 4,294 cases since Thursday. This comprises 0.2 per cent of the cumulative cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

As per the health ministry data uploaded on Friday morning, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 4.32 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 3.07 per cent.

While the case fatality rate in the country has been recorded at 1.21 per cent, the number of people who have recuperated from the disease has also gone up to 4,27,49,056.

The health ministry said over 196.77 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

An expert panel of India’s central drug authority has now recommended granting emergency use authorisation to Serum Institute’s Covovax for children aged 7 to 11 years. The recommendation has been sent to the Drugs Controller General of India for final approval. The DCGI had approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28 and in the 12 to 17 years age group subject to certain conditions on March 9. The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 from March 16.

As per the health ministry, five states which reported the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours are Maharashtra (5,218), Kerala (3,890), Delhi (1,934), Tamil Nadu (1,063), and Haryana (872).

This week, India has already logged over 48,200 new infections. The daily cases have stayed above the 12,000-mark for the entire week except on Tuesday when 9,923 fresh infections were reported.

Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Gujarat, Goa and Punjab have been recording an increase in weekly cases and positivity since June 10.

Reports show that about 50 districts in India, including 12 from Kerala, seven from Mizoram and five each from Maharashtra and Assam, are reporting a weekly Covid positivity rate of over 10 per cent.