India on Saturday registered 24,882 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall count to 1,13,33,728, data from the Union health ministry showed. The number of new cases marked the highest single-day rise in nearly three months, according to NDTV. As many as 26,624 new cases were recorded on December 20.

The country’s toll rose to 1,58,446 as 140 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. However, the rise in the number of active cases went up by 4,785. The overall tally of active cases went up to 2,02,022. Over 20.50 lakh people were vaccinated in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of total inoculation up to 2,82,18,457, government data showed.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has enforced fresh restrictions in several districts, in view of the worrying trend of cases in the state. On Thursday, a complete lockdown was announced in Nagpur from March 15 to March 21. All shops and establishments, except those which offer essential services, will be shut during this period.

On Friday, Maharashtra reported 15,817 new cases, while the number of active patients stood at 1,10,485, according to state health minister Rajesh Tope. The data suggests that Maharashtra alone accounted for 63.56% of the spike in new cases and 54.68% of the current active cases.

However, amid concerns of another wave of coronavirus, the overall case fatality ratio has witnessed a dip, according to The Indian Express. India’s CFR, or the number of deaths as a proportion of confirmed infections, is around 1.4%, which means about 14 people out of every 1,000 confirmed infections have died so far. But among those who were infected from January onward, this ratio is only about 0.87%.

Global updates

  1. Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 11.90 crore people and killed over 26.39 lakh, according to the John Hopkins University. Over 6.73 crore people have recovered from the infection in the world.  
  2. Brazil surpassed India in total number of cases, as the country’s tally stood at 1,13,63,380, according to the John Hopkins University. Brazil is second most Covid-infected country in the world after the United States.
  3. Restrictions on business and movement will be intensified in most parts of Italy, including Capital Rome and financial centre Milan will from Monday amid rise in cases, reported Reuters.    
  4. South Korea reported a three-week high of 490 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to Reuters.