NEW DELHI: India reported 89,129 new cases of Covid-19 in a span of 24 hours, the biggest single-day rise in six months, taking the country's total caseload to 12,392,260, as per the Union Health Ministry data.
Active cases stand at 6,58,909. The country also witnessed a grim record of most fatalities due to covid-19 in a single day in 2021, which stood at 714. The death toll from the virus stands at 164,110, while at least 1,15,69,241 have recovered from the disease.
Meanwhile, the country has administered over 7 crore coronavirus vaccines with 12,76,191 doses given till 8 pm on Friday, the Health Ministry said.
As per reports, a total of 7,06,18,026 vaccine doses till 8 pm, while 13,56,345 people received their first dose. The second dose of the vaccine has been administered to 92,61,681 people.
It needs to be mentioned here that the third phase of the Covid-19 vaccine drive has been rolled out on April 1, for those aged above 45.
Reportedly, the five most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (2,904,076), Kerala (1,124,584), Karnataka (997,004), Andhra Pradesh (901,989), and Tamil Nadu (886,673).
The Maharashtra government warned of another lockdown if the situation gets worse. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Friday that a decision to announce lockdown cannot be ruled out amid a surge in Covid cases in the state that has seen the highest daily infections since the beginning of the pandemic in the last two weeks.
"I cannot rule out imposing a lockdown if the current COVID-19 situation prevails," the Chief Minister said in a televised address on Friday who stopped short of announcing a lockdown, but warned that the decision may have to be taken after two days following consultations with experts and political leaders.
The total caseload of the state now stands at 29.04 lakh, of which 3.89 lakh are active cases. Active cases have nearly tripled from 1.3 lakh on March 15. With 202 patients dying on Friday, the state's case fatality ratio has reached 1.91 per cent.