Daily COVID-19 cases cross 3000-mark; XBB 1.16 variant suspected behind spike

India has recorded 3,016 fresh COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, almost 40 per higher than Wednesday’s tally and the largest in five months, the Union Health Ministry said in its bulletin on Thursday (March 30).

According to the ministry, the daily positivity rate now stands at 2.7 per cent while the weekly positivity rate is 1.71 per cent.

Also read: 610 cases of COVID’s new variant XBB1.16 found in India: INSACOG data

The spike in daily COVID-19 cases come at a time when several Indian states have recorded a rise in infections.

In Gujarat, active COVID-19 cases crossed the 2000-mark on Thursday.

The Delhi government too has called an emergency meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation a day after the national capital logged 300 cases, the highest single-day spike since September 2022, on Wednesday.

A night curfew has been put in place in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts of Uttar Pradesh in view of the rise in cases.

Daily infections also rose in Maharashtra, with the state recording 450 fresh cases on Wednesday. The XBB 1.16 variant is said to be causing the spike in cases and is likely responsible for over 60 per ccent of the cases.

Also read: Covid cases: Govt plans nationwide drill to check hospital preparedness

Maharashtra’s Solapur and Sangli districts have topped the positivity chart with 20.05 per cent and 17.47 per cent rate, respectively, in March, the state health department on Thursday.

The state’s health department said that XBB.1.16 variant of COVID-19 has been found in swab samples of 230 patients in the state so far.