India’s active caseload surges to 1.70 lakh as infection cases surpass recoveries
New Delhi, Mar 3 (Agency) The total number of active cases surged to 1,70,126 after India recorded more number of infection cases than recoveries with 14,989 people testing positive for the virus in a single day, as per the Union Health Ministry data released on Wednesday. India’s total cases now stand at 1,11,39,516 with its death toll mounting to 1,57,346 post 98 fatalities in the last 24 hrs. Recoveries have reached 10,812044 with 13,123 people testing negative for the virus, Health Ministry data said.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,56,20,749 beneficiaries have been administered COVID-19 vaccination since January 16. Today is also the 343rd day since India implemented a nationwide lockdown to help curb the novel coronavirus pandemic. Six states and UTs, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Chandigarh, Punjab and Gujarat, have a weekly positivity rate higher than the national average of two per cent. Maharashtra leads all the states with a weekly positivity rate of 10.02 per cent, the ministry said.
The Indian government, which has shipped critical supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to nations globally, has said it stands ready to work with the United Nations and its agencies to ensure the doses are delivered to people of Syria facing a “dire” situation compounded by the pandemic, winterisation, and food insecurity.
Global COVID-19 cases on rise after long decline: WHO
Geneva, Mar 3 (Agency) The number of new global cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has risen over the past week after a long decline, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement. “Over 2.6 million new cases were reported last week, a 7 pc increase compared to the previous week, following six consecutive weeks of declining numbers. The global case increase was driven by increases in the Eastern Mediterranean (14 pc), South-East Asia (9 pc), Europe (9 pc) and the Americas (6 pc),” the WHO said. “Possible reasons for this increase include the continued spread of more transmissible variants of concern (VOCs), relaxation of public health and social measures (PHSM) and fatigue around adhering to PSHM measures,” it said. The WHO said the weekly death toll figures kept decreasing. “The number of global new deaths continues to decrease, with over 63,000 new deaths reported last week, a 6 per cent decrease as compared to the previous week,” it said.