India Sees 2,151 New Covid-19 Cases, Highest In Five Months; Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat Worst-Hit

India Sees 2,151 New Covid-19 Cases, Highest In Five Months; Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat Worst-Hit

New Delhi: India on Wednesday (March 29, 2023) recorded a single-day rise of 2,151 new Covid-19 cases, the highest in five months. A total of 2,208 cases were recorded on October 28 last year. India, which has been witnessing over 1,000 fresh coronavirus infections for the past few days, now has 11,903 active cases. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4,47,09,676. 

According to the data updated at 8 am on Union Health Ministry's official website, the country's daily positivity currently stands at 1.51 per cent, while the weekly positivity is pegged at 1.53 per cent.

The Covid-19 death toll has increased to 5,30,848 with seven latest fatalities -- three reported by Maharashtra, one by Karnataka, and three reconciled by Kerala.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,66,925, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.

#AmritMahotsav#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive

https://t.co/Th2FANiUDT pic.twitter.com/W2FBZOubI8

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 29, 2023

The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent.

Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat Worst Covid-Hit States

Kerala, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are among the worst Covid-hit states in India. While Kerala currently has 2,877 active coronavirus cases, Maharashtra has 2,343 active infections.

Gujarat (1,976), Karnataka (806), Delhi (671), Tamil Nadu (660), and Himachal Pradesh (574) are the other states with the most active Covid-19 cases.

The weekly positivity in Maharashtra has gone up to 4.58% as on March 24 from 0.54% in the week ending March 3. In Gujarat, it increased to 2.17% from 0.07%, while in Kerala, weekly positivity shot up to 4.51% from 1.47% in the same time period. 

Karnataka also witnessed average weekly positivity rise up to 3.05% from 1.65% and Delhi saw weekly positivity jumping to 4.25% from 0.53%. 

Similarly, Himachal Pradesh also reported an increase in weekly positivity (from 1.92% to 7.48%). In Rajasthan, it increased from 0.12% to 1.62% and Tamil Nadu reported an increase in weekly positivity from 0.46% to 2.40% in the same time period.

As many as 24 districts across India are reporting more than 10% weekly positivity in the week ending March 24, while 43 districts are reporting weekly positivity between 5-10% in the same time period.

Centre Reviews Covid-19 Situation

Earlier this week, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan chaired a high-level meeting to review the preparedness status of the entire spectrum of management of the Covid-19 pandemic in view of the upsurge in cases. 

He referred to the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the high-level review meeting held on March 22 and advised States to be on the alert and ensure preparedness for coronavirus management. 

Centre Reviews Public Health Preparedness for management of #COVID19 and COVID-19 #Vaccination Progress with States

States advised to undertake mock drills to ensure operational readiness of Hospital Infrastructure

Details https://t.co/D7O0CzjSGU pic.twitter.com/qwd5T3ScAm — PIB in Odisha (@PIBBhubaneswar) March 27, 2023

He stressed on ramping of testing with a higher proportion of RT-PCR, and whole genome sequencing of positive samples. 

States and UTs were also briefed that India has been witnessing an increase in Covid-19 cases with average daily cases rising to 966 in the week ending March 23, from 313 average daily cases in the week ending March 3, and weekly positivity going up to 1.08% during the same time.

Bhushan also advised States to undertake mock drills across all health facilities on April 10 and April 11 to ensure operational readiness of Hospital Infrastructure, including Oxygen Cylinders, PSA plants, ventilators, logistics, and human resources.