Delhi surge a new worry for Centre as active Covid-19 cases remain below 5 lakh in India

India’s active Covid-19 tally remained below five lakh for the third consecutive day, but a fresh surge in Delhi became a cause of worry due to the shortage of ICU beds in the city.

The national capital had on Thursday reported 7,053 new infections and 104 deaths. The spike was attributed by Delhi's health authorities to the crowding of markets due to the festive and wedding season.

Read | Step up Covid-19 testing, avoid super-spreaders: Centre instructs states

The Health Ministry said the total infections in the country increased by 44,879, while 49,079 patients had recovered and were discharged from healthcare facilities.

India’s recoveries surpassed new infections continuously for 41 days, as of Friday.

The total recovered cases have surged to 81,15,580, which translates to a national recovery rate of 92.97%.

“The gap between recovered cases and active cases continues to grow and presently stands at 76,31,033,” the ministry said.

Also Read | Should India forget about acquiring Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine?

It said that 77.83% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and union territories.

Maharashtra reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries. A total of 7,809 new recoveries have pushed the state's total recoveries to 16,05,064.

About 76.25% of the new infections were concentrated in 10 states and union territories, the ministry said.

Ten states and union territories account for 79.34% of the 547 case fatalities reported in a span of 24 hours with 22.3% being reported from Maharashtra which reported 122 deaths.