India reports over 93,000 new cases for first time since mid-Sept

NEW DELHI, Apr 4
As many as 93,249 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours as the second wave of the infection rages across the country, said the Union Health Ministry on Sunday.
With this, the cumulative caseload in India has reached 1,24,85,509. The country had last seen over 93,000 cases on 18 September last year.
The Ministry said on Saturday that eight States -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh -- are continuing to witness a spike and account for 81.42% of total new cases.
Among these, Maharashtra has seen the biggest explosion of novel coronavirus cases for a month now. The State clocked in 49,447 more infections on Saturday, the tally has reached 29,53,523.
In addition to this, 513 more people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 1,64,623. The fatality count has declined slightly as compared to yesterday when it had climbed to 714.
A total of 60,048 people recuperated from the disease in the last 24 hours. The total number of recoveries now stands at 1,16,29,289.
As a result, there are 6,91,597 active cases in the country currently. The six lakh mark in active tally was breached in India once again on Friday and it is now on the verge of crossing over seven lakh cases.
Five States--Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Punjab--cumulatively accounted for 77.3% of the total active cases in the country on Saturday. Maharashtra alone had for 59.36% of the total active caseload of the country.
India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20 lakh mark on 7 August, 30 lakh on 23 August, 40 lakh on 5 September and 50 lakh on 16 September. It went past 60 lakh on 28 September, 70 lakh on 11 October, crossed 80 lakh on 29 October, 90 lakh on 20 November and surpassed the one-crore mark on 19 December.
The country has so far administered 7,59,79,651 anti-Covid shots.
The inoculation drive in India was rolled out on 16 January with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated and the vaccination of the frontline workers (FLWs) started on 2 February.
The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced on 1 March for those who are above 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.
India extended the drive to include everybody aged 45 and above from Thursday.
However, the Centre on Saturday wrote to all States and Union Territories to not permit any fresh registrations of HCWs and FLWs with immediate effect.
This has been done on recommendation by the National Expert Group for Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) based on inputs that some ineligible beneficiaries were getting their names enlisted for vaccination against Covid-19, under this category, in violation of prescribed guidelines, the Health Ministry said.
The Mint