COVID-19 update: Five states record surge in cases

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 30,535 (65.03 percent). This is followed by Punjab with 2,644 while Kerala reported 1,875 new cases.

PTI
March 22, 2021 / 02:19 PM IST

A healthcare worker receives a dose of Covishield at a government-run hospital at Baruipur on the outskirts of Kolkata. (Image: Reuters)

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are reporting a surge in the COVID-19 daily cases and account for 80.5 percent of the total new cases registered, the Union Health Ministry said on Monday. India saw 46,951 new cases being registeredin a day, the highest single day rise so far this year.

Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 30,535 (65.03 percent). This is followed by Punjab with 2,644 while Kerala reported 1,875 new cases.

Eight states including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new COVID-19 cases, the ministry said.

India's total active caseload has increased to 3,34,646 comprising 2.87 percent of India's total infections.

A net rise of 25,559 cases has been added to the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours, the ministry said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

View more
How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

View more
Show

The Daily Positivity Rate (7-day average) currently stands at 3.70 percent, the ministry said.

Maharashtra has conducted 1,78,00,438 total tests and has a positivity rate of 13.93 per cent followed by Tamil Nadu which has conducted1,78,13,593 tests and has a positivity rate of 4.87 per cent.

Haryana has so far tested 58,19,748 samples and has a positivity rate 4.81 per cent. Karnataka has tested 2,05,49,434 tests and has a positivityrate of 4.72 per cent.

Madhya Pradesh and Delhi has conducted 59,31,486 and 1,39,44,512 tests so far and both has a positivity rate of 4.65 per cent.

Eight States/UTs --Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Punjab, Puducherry, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Haryana have a weekly positivity rate more than the national average of 3.7 per cent, the ministry highlighted.

The total vaccination coverage in India has crossed the 4.5-crore mark, it stated.

More than 4.50 crore (4,50,65,998) vaccine doses have been administered through7,33,597 sessions,as per the provisional report till Monday 7 am.

These include77,86,205 HCWs (1st dose), 48,81,954 HCWs (2nd dose),80,95,711 FLWs (1stdose) and 26,09,742 FLWs (2nd Dose), 37,21,455 beneficiaries aged more than 45 years with specific co-morbidities and 1,79,70,931 beneficiaries aged more than 60 years have also received the 1st dose.

As on day-65 of the vaccination drive (21st March), total 4,62,157 vaccine doses were given. As it was a Sunday, many states and UTs did not schedule vaccination sessions, the ministry said.

Out of which, 4,49,115 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 8,459 sessions for 1stdose and 13,042 HCWs and FLWs received 2nddose of vaccine.

India's cumulative recoveries stand at 1,11,51,468 with21,180 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours.

A total of 212 deaths have been reported in a day.

Six states account for 85.85 per centof the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (99). Punjab follows with 44 daily deaths and Kerala reported13 deaths in a span of 24 hours.

The Case Fatality Rate currently stands at 1.37 per cent and is continuously declining, the ministry said.

Fourteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Uttarakhand, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Ladakh (UT), Daman and Diu & Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram, A&N Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.
PTI
TAGS: #coronavirus #Covid-19 #Current Affairs #India
first published: Mar 22, 2021 02:05 pm