By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Over 83 per cent of the new Covid cases in the country were reported from 10 states, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan accounted for 83.29 of new infections.
The country registered a record single-day surge of 1,31,968 cases on Friday taking the cumulative number of cases to 1,30,60,542.
There were 780 deaths recorded in the day with total toll rising to 1,67,642. There were new 61,899 recoveries, according to data shared on Friday.
The 12 states which showed an upward trajectory in daily new cases were Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala.
The five states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradeshand Kerala cumulatively accounted for 73.24 per cent of India’s total active cases. Maharashtra alone accounted for 53.84% of the total active caseload of the country.
At a high-level meeting of Group of Ministers (GoM) held by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday, it was pointed out that India’s seven-day case growth rate of 12.93 per cent was next to USA and Brazil.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired the 24th meeting of the high-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on Covid-19 on Friday.
During the meeting, it was pointed out that starting February, a steep increase in cases was observed in 11 states.
While a majority of the cases were reported in the younger population in the age group of 15-44, a majority of the deaths were reported among the elderly population. A high-test positivity rate was noted in Maharashtra at 25 per cent and Chhattisgarh at 14 per cent.
The total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered so far was over 9.43 crore. Over 36 lakh doses were completed in a span of 24 hours, the government said. Twelve states/UTs which did not report any Covid-19 deaths since Thursday were Rajasthan, Odisha, Puducherry, Ladakh (UT), D&D & D&N, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, A&N Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.
Also, no fresh Covid-19 case has been reported in 149 districts in a week, while eight have not registered any new infection in a fortnight, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Friday.