No new Covid-19 case in 149 districts in last 7 days: Harsh Vardhan

India recorded 131,968 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Friday.

Several districts in the country have not reported any new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and some have not witnesses any infections in the last 28 days, Union minister of health Harsh Vardhan said on Friday as India recorded the highest single-day spike so far. Harsh Vardhan said 149 districts have seen no new Covid-19 cases in the last week, eight districts have not registered any new infection in a fortnight, three districts since 21 days and 63 districts since the last 28 days, according to a statement.

Officials also pointed out 11 states contribute 54 per cent of the Covid-19 cases and 65 per cent of the deaths in the country and that disproportionately higher fatalities in Maharashtra and Punjab have risen during the last 14 days. (PTI Photo)

The Union ministry of health and family welfare said on Friday that 131,968 fresh infections were registered in the last 24 hours and that Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan have shown a steep rise in daily cases accounting for 83.29 per cent of the new infections. India's active caseload has gone up to 979,608 after 69,289 Covid-19 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

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Harsh Vardhan said that “with renewed focus on collective efforts for effective adherence of the Health Ministry’s SOPs for containment and management of Covid, and individual discipline in following oft disseminated Covid Appropriate Behaviours, India shall be able to overcome the recent surge,” according to the statement.

The director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Sujeet Kumar Singh, said that India's seven-day case growth rate as of Thursday, April 8, was at 12.93% and is next only to the US and Brazil. Singh said the national case fatality ratio has declined to 1.28 per cent even though the country was seeing an average growth rate of 5.37 per cent in the daily cases of the coronavirus disease. Singh also said the national recovery rate has declined to 91.22 per cent amid the surge in infections.

Officials also pointed out 11 states contribute 54 per cent of the Covid-19 cases and 65 per cent of the deaths in the country and that disproportionately higher fatalities in Maharashtra and Punjab have risen during the last 14 days. They also said that a majority of the cases in the 11 states with a high burden are reported among people in the 15 to 44 years age bracket and most of the deaths are among those above 60 years. A high test positivity rate is seen in Maharashtra where it is 25 per cent and in Chhattisgarh where it is 14 per cent, they added.

Harsh Vardhan also said that more than 30 million vaccine jabs have been administered to senior citizens. "India has also supported the global community through 'Vaccine Maitri', under which 6.45 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been sent to 85 countries. While 3.58 crore doses have been supplied to 25 countries under commercial contracts, 1.04 crore doses have been sent to 44 nations as grants, and 1.82 crore to 39 countries under Covax,” Vardhan was quoted as saying in a statement.

According to the health ministry, “India continues to remain at the top in the world with an average of 37,94,328 doses administered per day. Cumulatively, 9,43,34,262 vaccine doses have been administered till 7 am today.”