Covid-19 : Daily cases in India surge 56% to 58,000, highest 1-day spike.

Covid-19 : Daily cases in India surge 56% to 58,000, highest 1-day spike.

Covid-19

NEW DELHI: The country on Tuesday witnessed an explosion of Covid-19 infections with the daily tally nearing 58,000, registering a one-day growth of 56%, the highest during the period since the pandemic began.Tuesday's case count had risen to 57,974 by late night and was likely to cross 58,000 after data from the two remaining states. This was over 20,000 compared to 37,123 recorded on Monday and India's highest daily tally since June 19, 2021. 58,570 cases were reported.

Only once has the single-day increase in infections exceeded 56% - 63% on January 28, 2021 - and that was because the previous day's count dropped sharply due to the disruption in testing on Republic Day. This increase was inconsistent as it came at a time when cases were falling.

Tuesday was also the eighth consecutive day of rising cases during which the country has seen an unprecedented rise in infections, with the daily number rising nearly nine-fold since 6,242 cases were reported on Monday, December 27.

The sharp jump on Tuesday came after a fall on Sunday after testing higher the previous day. Over 11.5 lakh samples were collected for testing on Monday, up from 8.9 lakh a day earlier. Still, India's test positivity rate touched 5% on Tuesday, which is seen as a mark of a serious jump in infections.

The daily deaths from the virus also registered a marginal increase of 112, the highest in nearly three weeks and the toll crossed the 100 mark for the first time since December 23.

Maharashtra continued to lead the case count with 18,466 fresh infections, up 50% from 12,160 the previous day. The daily tally in Mumbai crossed 10,000, with 10,606 fresh cases being reported on Tuesday, the highest for any city in India.

Bengal reported 9,073 new cases, an increase of 50% against Monday's 6,078. Kolkata reported 4,759 fresh Covid-19 infections, the highest for the city. The state's TPR stood at an alarming 19% on Tuesday. Delhi reported 5,481 new cases, the second highest for a city after Mumbai, while the TPR remained above 5% for the second day as well.

Several states reported doubling of cases in a day. Punjab recorded 419 to 1,027 fresh infections on Monday, while Bihar posted 893, up from 344, and Telangana 482 to 1,052. Cases almost doubled in Jharkhand from 1,481 to 2,681 and in Gujarat (1,259 to 2,265).

Now what is clearly the third wave of the pandemic in India and it has engulfed almost all the states and union territories of the country. Kerala, where cases were falling till the end of last week, recorded 3,640 fresh infections on Tuesday, the highest since December 15. The numbers are rising in the Northeast as well, Assam has reported 475 cases