Maharashtra has been the worst hit by COVID-19 in India.
Mumbai:
Maharashtra on Sunday reported over 63,000 new coronavirus cases in its highest ever single-day surge along with 349 deaths. At 63,294, Sunday’s infections were 14 per cent higher than a day ago and took the number of active cases past 5.65 lakh.
The state, that is battling exploding infection numbers and shortages of vaccines, drugs and hospital beds, is under a weekend lockdown till 7 am Monday.
Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and spectators at cricket matches, India is experiencing a ferocious new wave with around a 10 lakh new cases in the past week.
Worst-hit among all states, Maharashtra had recorded 55,411 cases and 309 deaths on Saturday.
On Sunday, Pune reported a record number of new cases at 12,590 cases and 16 deaths, followed by Mumbai at 9,989 cases and 58 deaths.
Nagpur also logged its biggest one-day spike of 6,791 cases and 34 deaths while Thane reported 2,870 cases and 2 deaths and Nashik 3,332 cases and 20 deaths.
With Maharashtra accounting for roughly half of the cases reported across the country, India currently leads the world in the daily average number of new infections reported in more than two weeks, accounting for one in every six infections reported globally each day.
Deaths have also surged, with the health ministry reporting 839 fatalities on Sunday – the highest in more than five months – taking the total to 1,69,275.
India’s tally of more than 1.33 crore cases is the third-highest globally, behind the United States and Brazil. India’s new infections have soared nearly 18-fold since hitting a multi-month low in early February.