India sees huge leap in daily Covid-19 cases, nearly 50% rise from yesterday's

India on Wednesday reported 43,654 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, while 640 people died due to coronavirus, as per the Union health ministry data. India's active caseload now stands at 3,99,436.

The top five states which registered maximum cases are Kerala with 22,129 cases, followed by Maharashtra with 6,258 cases, Mizoram with 1,845 cases, Tamil Nadu with 1,767 cases and Odisha with 1,629 cases.

The 640 new fatalities include 254 from Maharashtra, 156 from Kerala and 60 from Odisha.

The surge in Kerala is worrying even as other states have seen a considerable drop in infections. "Up to 50 per cent of new cases are coming from Kerala and Maharashtra. The fatalities are low because their health infrastructure is good," a source in Health Ministry has said.

As per a report, the government on Tuesday sounded a warning against any sort of laxity. "The pandemic is far from over... globally. We have to be careful... We may be tired, but not the virus, this is an alert for us," said Dr VK Paul, chairman of the National Expert Committee on Vaccine Administration.

After much criticism over the centre's statement in parliament that 'no deaths have been reported due to the shortage of oxygen by states', sources have said the government has now sought data from states and union territories. The data is expected to be presented in the parliament before the end of monsoon session next month.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,06,63,147, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, ministry stated.

According to the Health Ministry, the country's active caseload this morning stood at 3,99,436 with active cases constituting 1.27 per cent of the cases recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.

So far, 44.61 crore vaccine doses have been administered as the government aims to vaccinate all adults by the end of this year.