14,989 new Covid-19 infections, India's Active Cases go beyond 1.7 lakh

One day after recording the daily infections around 12,000, India on Wednesday registered a spike in daily infection reporting 14,989 new cases in the last one day. On Tuesday, the 24-hour infection tally was at 12,286. Recoveries reached 10,812,044 with 13,123 recoveries reported in the past 24 hours. With an infection tally higher than the recovery, India's active caseload on Wednesday was at 1,70,126.

 

On Tuesday, India's active cases were close to 1.68 lakh. Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat are contributing maximum to the number of daily cases, the Union health ministry said.

 

6 states & UTs, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Chandigarh, Punjab and Gujarat, have a weekly positivity rate higher than the national average of 2%. Maharashtra leads all the states with a weekly positivity rate of 10.02 per cent, the ministry said on Tuesday.

 

Maharashtra reported 7,863 new Coronavirus infections on 2nd March, taking the caseload of the state to 21, 69,330. Kerala; on this day, reported 2,938 new Covid-19 cases & a total of 16 deaths.

Punjab reported 730 new Covid-19 cases, while Tamil Nadu & Gujarat added 462 & 454 new cases, respectively.

 

The Centre has deputed high-level multi-disciplinary teams to several states witnessing this sudden spike in the number of daily infections to ascertain the reason behind the rise. The sudden spike in daily infections comes after the Covid-19 situation became slightly stable in January. The rise is seen as a combined effect of restrictions being eased at a lot of places and people getting more comfortable with the situation.

 

Many states have imposed local restrictions to contain the spread of the virus. Vaccination is also gaining pace as the 2nd phase of the drive is now open to the senior citizens and those with co-morbidities between the age group 45 - 59.