8 states account for over 84% of India's fresh Covid-19 cases

Eight states including Maharashtra, Karnataka and Punjab have reported a high number of daily Covid-19 cases and account for 84.5 per cent of the 68,020 fresh cases recorded in the country in a day, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday.

On the other hand, the total vaccination coverage in India has crossed 6 crore, it said.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily rise of 40,414 Covid-19 cases, followed by 3,082 in Karnataka, 2,870 in Punjab, 2,276 in Madhya Pradesh, 2,270 in Gujarat, 2,216 in Kerala, 2,194 in Tamil Nadu and 2,153 in Chhattisgarh, the ministry said.

These eight states account for 84.5 per cent of the 68,020 new Covid-19 cases reported in a day in the country, it said.

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India's total active caseload has reached 5,21,808 and constitutes 4.33 per cent of the total infections. A net rise of 35,498 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a day, the ministry said.

Five states -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh -- cumulatively account for 80.17 per cent of the total active cases in the country, it added.

Seventeen states and union territories have lower cases per million than the national average (8,724), while 19 states and UTs have higher cases per million than the national average, according to the ministry.

Ten states -- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Haryana and Rajasthan -- are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new cases, the ministry said.

More than 6.05 crore (6,05,30,435) vaccine doses have been administered through 9,92,483 sessions, according to the provisional report till 7 am.

This includes 81,56,997 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the first dose, 51,78,065 HCWs who have taken the second dose, 89,12,113 frontline workers (FLWs) who have received the first dose and 36,92,136 FLWs who have taken the second dose, the ministry said.

Besides, 67,31,223 beneficiaries aged above 45 with specific comorbidities and 2,78,59,901 aged above 60 have also been administered the first dose.

Eight states -- Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra -- account for 60 per cent of the cumulative vaccine doses administered so far in India.

On March 28, the 72nd day of the vaccination drive, a total of 2,60,653 vaccine doses were given. Of these, 2,18,798 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 7,465 sessions for the first dose of the vaccine and 41,855 HCWs and FLWs received the second dose, the ministry said.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,13,55,993 with 32,231 recoveries being registered in a day.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries with 17,874 newly recovered cases.

Besides, 291 deaths were reported in a day in India.

Seven states -- Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh -- account for 81.79 per cent of these deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 108, followed by 69 in Punjab, the ministry said.

Eighteen states and UTs have higher deaths per million than the national average, it said.

Fifteen states and UTs -- Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Ladakh, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh -- have not reported any Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, it said.