India reports 17,336 daily new Covid-19 cases, highest in over 100 days
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New Delhi: Amid fears of a new wave, India is witnessing an upward tick of infections as the country reported 17,336 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest daily figure reported since mid-February of 2022.
The 24-hour figure indicates a massive 30 percent jump since yesterday's infections. Besides, 13 more people died during this period, increasing the virus-related death count to 5,24,954.
The active cases tally has increased to 88,284, an increase of 4,294 cases since yesterday. This comprises 0.2 percent of the cumulative cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.
The top 5 states which reported the highest number of cases today include Maharashtra (5,218), Kerala (3,890), Delhi (1,934), Tamil Nadu (1,063), and Haryana (872).
The cases doubled in Delhi yesterday than what it had reported a day earlier (926). This was the highest since February 4. The city, however, reported no virus-related death yesterday.
Amid rising cases, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya yesterday directed officials to continue to focus on surveillance and whole-genome sequencing to scan any possible mutations.
Meanwhile, a study by The Lancet medical journal has revealed that COVID-19 vaccines prevented over 42 lakh potential deaths in India in 2021. The study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, which based its findings on estimates of "excess" mortalities in the country during the pandemic.