India reported 62,258 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest single-day tally since October 2020, as per the Union Health Ministry on Saturday. The fresh spike has taken the total tally to 1,19,08,910.
With the death of 291 people in the last 24 hours, the toll touched 1,61,240 as the active caseload in the country mounted to 4,52,647.
Cases have been increasing over the two weeks in leaps and bounds. India has shown a steep rise since March 16 (24,492), March 24 (47,262), and March 26 (59,118).
According to the Health Ministry, Maharashtra and Punjab are turning out to be major contributors. Maharashtra remains the worst affected state due to COVID-19 with 2,82,451 active coronavirus cases in the state.
As of date, 5.81 crore doses of corona vaccine have been administered in the country since the drive began on January 16 after approval for 'Covishield' and 'Covaxin'.
Now, those over 45 years of age will also get the COVID-19 vaccine from April 1, irrespective of the co-morbidities, the Central Government has announced.