New Delhi, Apr 19 (FN Agency) India reported 2,73,810 fresh infections and 1,619 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the overall caseload to 1.5 crores, Union Health Ministry data said on Monday. With this, the overall death toll has surged to 1,78,769, active cases to 19,29,329 and recoveries to 1,29,53,821. This is the fifth straight day that over 2 lakh infections were reported and the sixth consecutive day to record over a thousand deaths.
Maharashtra and Delhi recorded their biggest ever single-day surge in Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to government data. While Delhi reported 25,462 cases and 161 deaths in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra logged 68,631 infections and 503 fatalities, it said. West Bengal logged its highest-ever spike of 8,419 cases. Tamil Nadu recorded 10,723 cases. Kerala has reported the highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases in a day. The five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (3,839,338), Kerala (1,197,301), Karnataka (1,109,650), Tamil Nadu (962,935), and Andhra Pradesh (942,135).
Meanwhile, amid the shortage of vaccines, 12,38,52,566 doses of Covidshield and Covaxin have been administered since January 16. The government on Sunday said it has increased the supply of medical oxygen to 12 “high-burden states”, including Maharashtra, which has the highest caseload in the country. The supply of oxygen meant for industries will also be diverted for medical use, it said further. Railways is also planning to run “Oxygen Express Trains” via green corridors to give a boost to the fight against Covid. Globally, 141,987,024 people have been infected by the deadly contagion. While 120,674,960 have recovered, 3,032,205 have died so far. The United States remains the worst-hit country with 32,404,454, followed by India, Brazil, France and Russia.