India reports over 3.86 lakh Covid-19 cases, 3,498 deaths in biggest single-day spike so far

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, April 30, 2021:       India has recorded 3,86,452 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the biggest single-day spike the country reported since the pandemic began. With fresh infections, the overall caseload in India has mounted to 1,87,62,976, according to the data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare early Friday.

 

India has been seeing over 3 lakh new cases every day for over a week now after the country first topped the 3-lakh mark on April 22 when 314,835 cases tested positive.

Top five states which registered maximum cases are Maharashtra with 66,159 cases, followed by Kerala with 38,607 cases, Uttar Pradesh with 35,104 cases, Karnataka with 35,024 cases and Delhi with 24,235 cases.

As of Friday, India has a total of 31,70,228 active Covid-19 cases, while 1,53,84,418 people have recovered from the infection so far.

Meanwhile, 3,498 more people succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, pushing the nationwide toll to 2,08,330.

Maharashtra, which is among the top five states worst hit by the pandemic, has so far reported 45,39,553 coronavirus cases and 67,985 fatalities. In wake of the rising number of cases, the state is under lockdown-like restrictions till May 15. Meanwhile, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope has warned that Maharashtra may witness a third wave of the infection in July-August.

Delhi on Thursday recorded 395 deaths due to coronavirus, the highest since the pandemic began a year ago, and 24,235 cases with a positivity rate of 32.82 per cent. This was the eighth day in a row that Delhi has recorded over 300 deaths due to Covid-19. The cumulative case count in Delhi climbed to 11,22,286, of which over 10.08 lakh have recovered. The death toll in Delhi due to the viral disease stood at 15,772. As of Thursday night, Delhi has 97,977 active cases.

Also, West Bengal registered its highest single-day deaths of 89 people due to Covid-19, pushing the toll to 11,248, the health department said on Thursday. The coronavirus tally topped the 8-lakh-mark to settle at 8,10,955 after 17,403 tested positive in the last 24 hours, it said.

Andhra Pradesh logged 14,792 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday, taking the tally to 10,84,336, while 57 fatalities pushed the toll to 7928, the state government said. The state has 1, 14,158 active cases and over 86,000 samples were tested during the last 24 hrs. As many as 8,188 people recovered from the disease, pushing the total recoveries to 9,62,250, an official bulletin said.

In Kerala, the state government has decided to impose more stringent curbs from May 4-9 with the state’s daily surge of Covid-19 cases crossing 38,000 and virus caseload touching the 15 lakh mark.

With fresh cases increasing exponentially, there is need to strengthen further restrictions in addition to the present weekend lockdown like curbs on Saturdays and Sundays, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday. For a week from May 4, stringent restrictions will be put in place. People should follow ’self lockdown’, Vijayan said.

VACCINE SHORTAGE

Even as cases surge, several states, including Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh have said they do not have sufficient doses of vaccine for the inoculation of those in the 18-44 age group, and indicated that they may miss the May 1 launch date of the drive.

Later, officials said Delhi will procure 67 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine from Serum Institute and the first tranche of three lakh doses will be delivered by May 3. Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh are among the states which have already raised the issue of vaccine shortage even for the ongoing inoculation drive for those above 45 years of age.

Denying that there was any shortage of vaccine, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said more than 1 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs and they will receive over 20 lakh more doses within the next 3 days.

More medical supplies from the international community, meanwhile, continue to arrive in India as the country battles a devastating second wave of coronavirus pandemic that has stretched its healthcare infrastructure to its limit amid surging cases.

Courtesy:India Today