COVID-19: Over 2 lakh infection cases reported across country

New Delhi: India has registered 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases within the past 24 hours, marking the largest daily increase since the start of the outbreak, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The total number of those who tested positive for the coronavirus in India has reached 14,074,564, according to the ministry.Within the same period of time, the death toll has risen by 1,038 to 173,123 people. More than 12.42 crore patients have recovered since the start of the epidemic.

Meanwhile, a total of 114,493,238 coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the country since January 16 with 3,313,848 jabs being given since yesterday.

Maharashtra on Wednesday reported 58,952 fresh coronavirus cases whereas Delhi with 17,282 fresh infections, recorded the highest ever coronavirus diseases cases, breaking its previous daily spikes. Karnataka reported the highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases this year by recording 11,265 new infections in the last 24 hours.

Maharashtra (3,578,160), Kerala (1,172,882), Karnataka (1,094,912), Tamil Nadu (940,145), and Andhra Pradesh (928,664) are the five most affected states.

To ensure adequate stocks of Remdesivir for hospitalised Covid-19 patients, the Centre has given fast-track approval to companies to ramp up production capacities to make around 78 lakh vials per month, double the currently installed capacity of 38.8 lakh vials. Manufacturers have also agreed to voluntarily reduce the price to less than Rs 3,500 by the end of this week. At present, seven Indian companies are producing the drug under a voluntary licensing agreement with the US company Gilead Sciences, which holds the patent for the product.

Globally, the United States remains the worst-hit country with 32,149,181, followed by India, Brazil, France and Russia. However, in terms of the total number of active cases, the US tops the charts, followed by France, India, Brazil and Belgium.(UNI)