India records 53,480 new COVID-19 cases, 354 deaths in last 24 hours
India's coronavirus tally jumped to 1,21,49,335 with 53,480 new cases reported in 24 hours, while 354 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,62,468, the Union Health Ministry said Wednesday morning. Out of 354 fatalities, 140 were reported from Maharashtra. The country had recorded 355 deaths on December 17.
The active cases have risen to 5,52,566 comprising 4.55 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.11 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,14,34,301, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, it stated.
India's COVID-19 tally 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, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 24,36,72,940 samples had been tested up to March 30 with 10,22,915 being tested on Tuesday.
As several parts of the country reporting the second wave of Covid-19, Centre Tuesday warned that the whole country is potentially at risk. The govt said that the situation is going from “bad to worse” and urged states to achieve 100 per cent vaccination coverage of those above the age of 45 years in surge districts within the next two weeks.
It also urged all those states that are reporting a rise in Covid cases to ramp up testing with a focus on RT-PCR, prompt isolation, contact tracing, and boosting healthcare resources.
