Seven states account for 87.63% of new covid deaths: Health Ministry

A total of 18,599 new infections were registered in past 24 hours (Photo: AFP) — A total of 18,599 new infections were registered in past 24 hours **(Photo: AFP)**

2 min read . Updated: 08 Mar 2021, 01:05 PM IST Written By Deepak Upadhyay

Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties with 38 deaths followed by Punjab with 17 and Kerala with 13 deaths.
The health ministry stressed that more than 70% of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities

NEW DELHI : Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday said seven states account for 87.63% of the new deaths in India in last 24 hours. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties with 38 deaths followed by Punjab with 17 and Kerala with 13 deaths. The new cases of covid-19 infection in India recorded above 18,000 for the third straight day taking the total tally to 1,12,29,398, the ministry added.

A total of 18,599 new infections were registered in a day, while the death toll increased to 1,57,853 with 97 daily new fatalities, the ministry said. The health ministry stressed that more than 70% of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

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The ministry said Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have been reporting a surge in the COVID daily new cases. They cumulatively account for 86.25% of the new cases reported in the past 24 hours.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 11,141, followed by Kerala with 2,100 while Punjab reported 1,043 new cases. The Union health said the surge in Covid-19 cases in the state may be due to lack of fear of the disease among people and pandemic fatigue. The ministry asked the state not to let its guard down.

The Union health ministry said active cases also registered an increase for the sixth consecutive day and the active caseload increased to 1,88,747 which now comprises 1.68% of the total infections. The recovery rate has dropped further to 96.91%, the data stated.

The ministry said the Centre is regularly holding high-level review meetings with the states and UTs showing a surge in new daily cases. The government has already deputed high-level teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir to support them in their fight against the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.