India reports 2,151 fresh Covid cases, highest since October last year

The Covid-related death toll has increased to 5,30,848, the data updated at 8 am stated.

Published on: Mar 29, 2023, 10:27:25 IST

By HT News Desk

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India logged 2,151 new Covid-19 cases within 24 hours amid conern cover a fresh spike in infections in the country, according to Union health ministry data updated Wednesday. A total of 2,208 cases were recorded on October 28 last year. The Covid-related death toll has increased to 5,30,848 – three reported by Maharashtra, one by Karnataka and three reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

A medic collects a sample for the Covid-19 test at a public health centre, in Bengaluru on Tuesday. (PTI)

The daily positivity was recorded at 1.51 per cent, while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.53 per cent. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,09,676). The active caseload – currently at 11,903– now comprises 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, according to the ministry website.

The rise in Covid cases has prompted officials to review the preparedness status, with Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan chairing a high-level meeting on Monday with States and UTs through a Video Conference. Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog and Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Dept. of Health Research were also present in the review meeting. He stressed ramping up of testing with a higher proportion of RT-PCR and whole genome sequencing of positive samples.

Bhushan last week made a comprehensive presentationcovering the global Covid-19 situation at a review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prime minister was briefed about the rise in Covid cases when India had been reporting less than 1,000 average daily cases.

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