Surge in coronavirus cases in eight states: Health ministry

Eight states in the country are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases of Covid-19 over the last three weeks, said the union health ministry on Saturday.

These states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana.

In the last 24 hours, Maharashtra recorded 15,817 new cases; Punjab reported 1,408; Karnataka logged 833; Gujarat 715; Tamil Nadu noted 670 cases; Madhya Pradesh 603; Delhi 431 cases and Haryana reported 385, as per the data shared by the ministry of health and family welfare.

Meanwhile, India's total active caseload stands at 2.02 lakh (2,02,022) on Saturday, of which, Maharashtra alone accounted 63.57 per cent.

Besides, the ministry also informed that Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh reported 87.72 per cent of the new cases reported in last 24 hours.

Kerala recorded 1,780 cases in the last 24 hours.

The single-day rise of new Covid-19 cases in India on Saturday is the country's highest tally so far this year. It recorded 24,882 cases and 140 deaths showing eight per cent increase since Friday.

The cumulative tally has risen to 1,13,33,728 while the toll reached 1,58,446.

The infection level in the country is back to what it was in December as it soared to 1.78 per cent from 1.55 within a week.

In the last four days, the number of fatalities has spiked as well, which earlier was hovering under 100.

The country on Friday reported 22,885 new Covid-19 cases, 117 fatalities. On Thursday, India had reported 22,854 Covid-19 cases and 126 deaths; while on Wednesday, 17,921 Covid-19 cases and 133 deaths were recorded.

Health experts and doctors have attributed this sudden rise to people turning complacent, not following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and assuming all is well now.

--IANS

asr/in