NEW DELHI: The rapid rise of Covid-19 cases has seen 146 districts reporting more than 15% positivity, whereas 274 districts have a positivity rate between 5% and 15%, according to the health ministry.
The Centre expressed concern over the surge, particularly in the 146 districts with high positivity rate, and said the health system was facing strain because of the steep increase in new cases.
Though 308 districts have a positivity rate less than 5%, the national case positivity rate is currently 17.9%.
While the age profile of cases remains largely the same as during the first wave, data shows that the share of deaths due to Covid-19 has increased among the elderly.
During the first wave of the disease, 19.9% of deaths was recorded among people aged between 70 and 80 while 7.8% was among those aged above 80. In the second wave, deaths in the 70-80 group increased to 22.1% and in those above 80 years to 9.8%.
Besides, there is also a marginal increase in deaths is the 30-40 years group. During the first wave, 5.2% of people died in this age bracket, whereas 5.3% died in the second wave.
On Tuesday, 2,95,041 new cases were reported. While over 76% of new cases was from 10 states, Maharashtra continues to account for the highest daily cases.
Five states — Maharashtra, UP, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Kerala — have more than 1 lakh active cases each.
The Centre said all energies were focused on tackling the situation and come out of the pandemic when asked if the government had “missed” the second wave by taking its eye off the ball. “We are in the midst of the second wave and there is a surge. We cannot say when numbers will come down,” Indian Council of Medical Research director Balram Bhargava said.
More than 13 crore vaccine doses were given till 8 pm on Wednesday. While 87% of all healthcare workers have received the first dose of vaccine, 80% have taken the second dose too.