India records nearly 3 lakh new COVID cases, death toll over 2,000
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Continuing its record upward trend, India recorded an all-time high of 2,95,041 coronavirus infections in a day and taking the death toll to 2023, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The total cases of COVID-19 in India have now mounted to 1,56,16,130, with 21,57,538 active cases, the data showed. The total death toll in the country is now at 1,82,553.
According to the data, the country saw a total of 1,67,457 discharges in the last 24 hours, taking the total recovery toll to 1,32,76,039. So far, a total of 13.1 crore vaccine doses were administered until Tuesday.
This is the seventh straight day of over two lakh new cases in the country. India's tally of more than 1.56 crore COVID cases is the second-highest globally, behind the United States and ahead of Brazil.
The top 10 states that have contributed the most to the daily Covid-19 tally in the past 24 hours are Maharashtra (62,097 cases), Uttar Pradesh (29,574 cases), Delhi (28,395 cases), Karnataka (21,794 cases), Kerala (19,577 cases), Chhattisgarh (15,625 cases), Madhya Pradesh (12,727 cases), Gujarat (12,206 cases), Rajasthan (12,201 cases) and Tamil Nadu (10,986 cases).
Amid the frightening surge in COVID cases, PM Narendra Modi had addressed the nation on Tuesday and asserted that lockdowns should be the "last resort" to deal with the raging pandemic.
Aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19, several states have imposed lockdown and night curfews for the next few weeks.
The Centre has also announced that people above 18 are eligible to have the vaccine jab from May 1, following which state governments like UP and Assam has announced to provide free vaccines for all people above 18 years.