India reports 11,109 fresh Covid infections; active cases cross 49,000-mark

India recorded its highest number of new coronavirus infections in 236 days, with 11,109 new cases reported, according to updated data from the Union Health Ministry on Friday.

The number of active cases has increased to 49,622, while the death toll rose to 5,31,064 with 29 new deaths.

The data reported three deaths each from Delhi and Rajasthan, two each from Chhattisgarh and Punjab, and one each from Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh.

Additionally, nine reconciled deaths were reported by Kerala. The daily positivity rate was 5.01 per cent, and the weekly positivity rate was 4.29 per cent.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 4.47 crore (4,47,97,269).

The active cases represent 0.11 per cent of the total infections, and the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 98.70 per cent.

The number of people who have recovered from the disease has surged to 4,42,16,586, and the case fatality rate is 1.19 per cent. India has administered 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far under the nationwide vaccination drive, according to the ministry’s website.

Meanwhile, the national capital reported 1,527 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours on Thursday, according to a Delhi government health bulletin. The rate of positivity was 27.77%.

The number of new cases increased from Wednesday’s total of 1,149, a count that breached the 1,000-mark for the first time in more than seven months while the positivity rate stood at 23.8 %. However, the latest increase in new cases can be seen as the new high.

According to the health department’s data, two Covid-related deaths occurred in Delhi in the last 24 hours, with a total of 3,962 active cases. The data also shows that 909 people have recovered from Covid related issues.

With the addition of the fresh cases, Delhi’s infection tally has risen to 20,18,777. The death toll stands at 26,549, the government data said.

The health department of Gautam Buddh Nagar which falls under Delhi-NCR issued a set of recommendations on Thursday that includes practising social distancing and use of face masks at offices, schools, colleges, shopping malls, hospitals, among other public places.

The guidelines came as the tally of active patients across Noida and Greater Noida reached to 396 on Thursday — the highest so far this year — according to official data.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar health department said information related to the pandemic can be obtained from the Integrated Covid Command and Control Centre at 1800-419-2211 and the same number can be used to inform about any patient as well.(With inputs from PTI)