70% of India's Covid-19 cases from Maharashtra, Kerala: Harsh Vardhan

Harsh Vardhan said that 147 districts in the nation have not seen a case of Covid-19 in last 7 days.

Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Thurday said 70% of India's Covid-19 cases are in Maharashtra and Kerala, adding that so far, 153 cases of UK variant have been detected in India.

Active Covid-19 cases in country stand at 1,73,740, while 1,03,73,606 people have recovered from the disease, Union health ministry said.(PTI)

"70% of our Covid-19 cases are in Maharashtra and Kerala. So far, 153 cases of UK variant have been detected in India," Vardhan said according to news agency ANI.

He said that 147 districts in the nation have not seen a case of Covid-19 in last 7 days.

"18 haven't seen a case in last 14 days, 6 have not seen a case in last 21 days and 21 haven't seen a case in last 28 days," Vardhan added.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Maharashtra stands at 2,013,353, while in Kerala it is 899,932. The other states which add to India's coronavirus caseload are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Meanwhile, India reported 11,666 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, as the tally rose to 10,701,193, the Union health ministry’s dashboard showed. The death toll rose to 153,847 as 123 fresh fatalities were reported, the dashboard further showed. Deaths constitute 1.44% of the national tally.

Active Covid-19 cases in country stand at 1,73,740, while 1,03,73,606 people have recovered from the disease, Union health ministry said.

India's latest positive Covid-19 cases were from a total of 19,43,38,773 samples tested up to 27th January. Of these, 7,25,653 samples were tested yesterday, said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

As many as 2.3 million beneficiaries have been vaccinated for Covid-19 in india. A total of 16 hospitalisations and nine deaths have been reported so far. However, the health ministry has not linked any of the casualties with Covid vaccination.

India is currently conducting the world’s largest vaccination drive against Covid-19, administering shots of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield, and Bharat Biotech International Limited’s Covaxin.

India has also sent consignments of Covishield to several of its neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Maldives etc. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is manufacturing Covishield here, while Covaxin is the country’s first indigenous vaccine against the disease.

In the first phase of vaccination, which began on January 16, healthcare workers are being inoculated. The government aims to vaccinate 30 million healthcare workers.