India hits another record high with 1.68 lakh Covid-19 cases

India on Monday breached another record by registering more than 1.68 lakh new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. With this, the total number of cases reached 13,527,717, according to Union health ministry's update on Monday morning. The number of fatalities due to the virus also increased, as 904 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, the ministry's data showed. More than 900 deaths were last reported in October 2020.

The number of recoveries on Monday stood at 12,156,529. The new wave, known to have increased transmissibility, has decreased the recovery rate of the country which currently stands at over 90 per cent. It used to be more than 97 per cent, one of the highest in the world in February.

Tensions around the spread of the infection increased as 16 states showed an upward trajectory in daily new cases, according to the data released by the government. Six more states were added to the list in the last 10 days.

Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are displaying a rising trend in the number of new cases in a single day. Uttarakhand, which is hosting the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar, witnessing huge crowds, is also one of the 16 states spiraling the virus out of control in the country.

The active cases curve in the country surpassed the September peak and currently stands at more than 1.2 million. The positivity rate stood at 1.29 per cent on the same date two months ago, increased to 8.29 per cent on Monday. The surge in Covid-19 cases comes as the country continues to administer the highest number of vaccine doses per day. More than 10 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far, according to the health ministry.