New Delhi: In the last 24 hours, India reported a worst-ever spike of 2,17,353 daily coronavirus cases as many states grappled with shortages of hospital beds, oxygen, medicines and vaccine doses. The fresh cases in the deadly second wave took the total caseload to over 1.42 crore.
1,185 people dying of COVID in the last 24 hours pushed the country’s death count to 1,74,308. This is the second straight day that the country is reporting over two lakh cases and the sixth straight day of over 1.5 lakh daily cases.
Maharashtra, the country’s worst-hit state, reported 61,695 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally to 36,39,855, while 349 new fatalities pushed the death count to 59,153. The state is under a strict curfew till the end of April. In terms of the total caseload, Maharashtra is followed by the southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala has decided to do mass testing of people for COVID. The state is aiming to conduct 2 lakh to 2.5 lakh tests between today and tomorrow.
Karnataka and capital Bengaluru saw the highest single-day spike so far in the pandemic, with 14,738 new cases in the states. Of these, 10,497 are from Bengaluru. While Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa called an emergency meeting today to discuss the situation, his government has ruled out the possibility of a lockdown.
The Delhi government has imposed a weekend curfew and has ordered shopping malls, gyms and spas to stay shut till April 30 or further orders after the city recorded the over 17,000 Covid cases on Wednesday. On Thursday, the capital saw 16,699 fresh cases.
Meanwhile, 30 sadhus participating in the mega Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar have tested positive for COVID. Amid criticism over holding the massive religious gathering in which lakhs of people gathered and took a dip in the Ganges, officials said the Kumbh Mela will not be cut short.
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