Covid deaths top 300 for 1st time in 2021 | Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Daily deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic in India crossed the 300 mark for the first time in 2021 as 312 fatalities were recorded on Saturday, the highest since December 24. Fresh cases rose to over 62,500, the highest in 163 days.Active cases in India, currently at around 4.85 lakh, are likely to cross the 5-lakh mark on Sunday. The count has risen by a record 90,000 in three days and is set to post the fastest one-lakh rise (four days) if it tops 5 lakh on Sunday.India logged 62,608 fresh cases on Friday, marginally more than the previous day’s tally of 62,336, as per TOI’s database. This was the highest daily increase since October 15. As many as 15 states posted their highest daily counts since January or earlier, as Chhattisgarh became the third state after Maharashtra and Punjab to log over 3,000 cases in a day in March. 81731477The seven-day rolling average of daily cases has nearly doubled in the past 10 days, going from 27,004 on March 17 to 53,198 on March 27, pointing to an explosive growth in infections. Of the 312 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra accounted for more than half the count, reporting 166 fatalities on Saturday, the highest in the state since November 5. Punjab reported 46 deaths, Kerala 14, Chhattisgarh 13, and Delhi and Madhya Pradesh 10 each.Maharashtra also recorded over 35,000 fresh cases (35,726) for the third day in a row although the count was slightly lower than Friday’s record surge of 36,902. The state has added over 5 lakh cases in March so far. Mumbai added 6,130 cases, the highest ever single day addition in the city. Infections surged in Chhattisgarh, which reported 3,162 new cases on Saturday, the highest single-day count in the state since September 28. Meanwhile, Gujarat continued to post its highest daily tally for the sixth consecutive day. The state recorded 2,276 cases on Saturday. One-third of Gujarat’s total cases reported in 2021 has come in the past 10 days alone.More than a dozen other states/Union territories recorded their highest numbers since January or earlier. Karnataka reported 2,886 new cases, the highest since November 6, while Tamil Nadu’s count crossed 2,000, with the state posting 2,089 fresh cases, the highest since November 12.Madhya Pradesh recorded 2,142 cases, the most since September 27 while Delhi recorded 1,558 (highest since December 15) and Haryana recorded 1,383 (highest since December 9).