India sees sharpest 5-day rise in COVID-19 cases in 10 months

In the past five days, India has witnessed its sharpest rise in COVID-19 cases in at least the last 10 months. On Thursday, the daily cases almost touched 40,000 with 39,670 new infections in the past 24 hours. This was the highest single-day spike in November last year.

In the last five days, the average of daily cases has been growing by more than five per cent. Previously, the daily growth of over five per cent was seen from May 19 to May 22, according to a report in the Times of India.

Maharashtra on Thursday recorded 25,833 new coronavirus cases, the highest one-day spike since last March when the first coronavirus infection was detected. The earlier record was 24,886 cases, reported on September 11 last year.

Additionally, 15 other states and union territories have also reported their highest single-day caseloads since September 2020.  Punjab reported 2,387 fresh cases--highest since September 19. Chandigarh also reported its highest tally of cases at 211 since September 25.

Daily cases were up in other states as well, including Gujarat (1,276), Tamil Nadu (989), Madhya Pradesh (917), Haryana (633), Delhi (607), Uttar Pradesh (321), Rajasthan (32), West Bengal (323), Himachal Pradesh (171), Jammu and Kashmir (140), Jharkhand (97), and Puducherry (81).

COVID-19-related deaths have also seen a surge but not at the same pace as the spurt in cases. India reported more than 150 fatalities for three straight days.

Separately, the total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 3.89 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry. So far, 76,19,786 healthcare and 78,11,126 frontline workers got the first dose, while 46,92,962 healthcare and 21,50,198 frontline workers have received the second dose.

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