2.59 Lakh Fresh Covid Cases, India’s Highest Everyday Testing (20.61 Lakh)

India reported 2.59 lakh new Covid cases, taking its tally to 2.6 crore. The death count rose to 2,91,331 after 4,209 more patients died in the last 24 hours. Vaccinations showed a downward graph amid panic of a third wave in the next 6-8 months.

Here are the top 10 updates on coronavirus in India:

1. India, which has been reporting under three lakh daily cases for the last four days, is the second worst-hit country after the US. The positivity rate has dropped to 12.58 per cent.

2. Over 20.61 lakh samples were tested for the infection in the last 24 hours, reporting for the highest single-day tests so far.

3. After Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have the highest number of infections.

4. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu saw 35,579 more people testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, 2 per cen higher than the previous day’s data. Chennai saw a slight dip in its daily infections with 6,073 new cases.

5. Karnataka on Thursday reported 28,869 new coronavirus cases and 548 deaths. Daily cases in Bengaluru dropped to 9,409.

6. Delhi recorded 3,231 fresh cases of coronavirus and 233 fatalities in the last 24 hours. This was the second straight day the capital logged less than 4,000 cases. The positivity rate has dipped to 5.5 per cent. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will take a call on lifting the lockdown over the weekend, after a discussion with Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.

7. Maharashtra reported 29,911 new coronavirus positive cases and 738 deaths on Thursday, which took its caseload to 54,97,448 and death count to 85,355. Capital Mumbai’s positivity rate dropped to 4.84 per cent, the lowest in over two months as the city logged 1,425 new cases.

8. More states ordered urgency measures to counter a surge in the rare deadly Black Fungus infection among recovered Covid patients. Odisha and Gujarat declared epidemics of Mucormycosis while the Delhi government said dedicated treatment centres for Black Fungus will be set up in three hospitals.

9. Bharat Biotech on Thursday said it plans to produce additional 200 million (20 crore) doses of COVID-19 vaccine ”Covaxin” at its subsidiary’s Gujarat-based facility, taking the overall production volume of the vaccine to about 1 billion (100 crore) dosages per annum.

10. A seven-day rolling average of vaccinations in India showed an alarming decline for the seventh day on Thursday, as the Health Ministry said only 11.66 lakh people got their jabs a day ago, mounting concern about next waves of infections.