There is an upsurge in daily new COVID-19 cases in Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, according to the Union Health Ministry.
In the past week, Maharashtra exhibited a spike in the number of daily new cases. In the last 24 hours, 6,112 daily new cases have been reported in the State. Chhattisgarh reported 259 cases, Punjab 383 and Madhya Pradesh 297, said the Ministry.
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It asserted that people should keep in mind the importance of adherence to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. “This is essential for breaking the chain of transmission of the virus and containment of spread of the disease,” it stated.
Eighteen States/UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours and these include Telangana, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Ladakh (UT), Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
The country reported 101 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours and five States accounted for 78.22% of them. Maharashtra saw the maximum of 44. Kerala reported 15 deaths and Punjab eight casualties.
PTI adds:
India records 13,993 new cases, highest in 22 days
Daily COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to about 14,000 after nearly 22 days taking India's tally to 1,09,77,387, while the recoveries surged to 1,06,78,048, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.
A total of 13,993 new cases were registered in a span of 24 hours. The death toll increased to 101 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
On January 29, 18,855 daily cases were recorded.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,78,048 which translates to a national recovery rate of 97.27% and the case fatality rate stands at 1.42%.
The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 1.5 lakh.
There are 1,43,127 active cases of coronavirus infections in the country which comprise 1.27% of the total caseload, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
According to the ICMR, 21,02,61,480 samples have been tested up to February 19, with 7,86,618 samples being tested on Friday.
The 101 new fatalities included 44 deaths from Maharashtra, 15 from Kerala and 8 from Punjab.
A total of 1,56,212 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 51,713 from Maharashtra followed by 12,451 from Tamil Nadu, 12,287 from Karnataka, 10,897 from Delhi, 10,242 from West Bengal, 8,712 from Uttar Pradesh and 7,167 from Andhra Pradesh.
The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
