India reports 81,466 new COVID-19 cases, 469 deaths

National Zoological Park employees sanitise the premises in New Delhi as it prepares to open to the public from April 1 with COVID-19 coronavirus safety protocols in place. Pic/AFP

India recorded 81,466 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, highest since October 2020, taking the total tally to 1,23,03,131 on Friday. The country has been recording a spike in cases for over three weeks. Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh are logging steep rise in daily new cases.

The active cases have now increased to 6,14,696 comprising 5 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 93.89 per cent. The death toll increased to 1,63,396 with 469 daily new fatalities.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease surged to 1,15,25,039, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.33 per cent, the data stated. A total of 24,59,12,587 samples tested for Covid-19 up to April 1. Of these, 11,13,966 samples were tested on Thursday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research.

India fought through the first wave of infection six months ago and recorded a highest single-day spike of 93,617 cases on September 16. The highest number of deaths recorded in a day were 1,169 on September 15.

The Centre has advised high-burden states and Union territories to take stringent measures for containment of the surge. So far, 6.87 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.

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