84% of India's latest COVID-19 cases reported from just 8 states

India reported a whopping 68,020 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Monday with the Union health ministry saying that 84.5 per cent of it were reported from only eight states.

These eight states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh.

Maharashtra topped the list with 40,414 cases in a day, followed by Karnataka’s 3,082 and Punjab’s 2,870. Trailing them were the states – Madhya Pradesh (2,276), Gujarat (2,270), Kerala (2,216), Tamil Nadu (2,194) and Chhattisgarh (2,153), according to the ministry.

India’s total active caseload has reached 5,21,808 and constitutes 4.33 per cent of the total infections. A net rise of 35,498 cases has been recorded in the total active caseload in a day, informed the ministry.

Five states — Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh — cumulatively account for 80.17 per cent of the total active cases in the country, the ministry added.

According to the ministry, 17 states and union territories have lower cases per million than the national average (8,724) and 19 states and UTs have higher cases per million than the national average.

It said that 10 states — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Haryana and Rajasthan — are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new cases.

According to the ministry, the total vaccination coverage in India has crossed 6 crore. More than 6.05 crore (6,05,30,435) vaccine doses have been administered through 9,92,483 sessions, according to the provisional report till 7 am.

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This includes 81,56,997 healthcare workers (HCWs) who’ve taken the first dose, 51,78,065 HCWs who’ve taken the second dose, 89,12,113 frontline workers (FLWs) who’ve received the first dose and 36,92,136 FLWs who’ve taken the second dose, the ministry said.

Besides, 67,31,223 beneficiaries aged above 45 with specific comorbidities and 2,78,59,901 aged above 60 have also been administered the first dose.

Eight states — Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra — account for 60 per cent of the cumulative vaccine doses administered so far in India.

On March 28, the 72nd day of the vaccination drive, a total of 2,60,653 vaccine doses were given. Of these, 2,18,798 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 7,465 sessions for the first dose of the vaccine and 41,855 HCWs and FLWs received the second dose, the ministry said.

India’s cumulative recoveries stand at 1,13,55,993 with 32,231 recoveries being registered in a day. Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of single-day recoveries with 17,874 newly recovered cases.

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Besides, 291 deaths were reported in a day in India. Seven states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Madhya Pradesh — account for 81.79 per cent of these deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties at 108, followed by 69 in Punjab, the ministry said.

Eighteen states and UTs have higher deaths per million than the national average, it said.

Fifteen states and UTs — Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Puducherry, Ladakh, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh — have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, it said.

(With inputs from agencies)