Doubling time of COVID-19 cases in India falls from 504.4 days to 202.3 days, says health ministry

New Delhi: The doubling time of COVID-19 cases in India has decreased from 504.4 days on 1 March to 202.3 days on 23 March, the health ministry said on Tuesday, highlighting that six states have reported a surge in daily new cases and together account for 80.90 percent of the new infections reported in a day. Meanwhile, more than 32.53 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered on 22 March, which is the highest single-day vaccination so far, taking the total number of people inoculated to over 4.8 crore. Six states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu — collectively account for 80.90 percent of the 40,715 infections reported in a span of 24 hours. Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 24,645 (60.53 percent). It is followed by Punjab with 2,299 cases and Gujarat with 1,640 new cases.

#Unite2FightCorona

Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu report a rise in Daily New Cases; account for 80.90% of daily new cases.

40,715 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.https://t.co/V9tfM0LAPb pic.twitter.com/h1W5yZucGj

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 23, 2021

Ten states—Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Haryana and Rajasthan — are displaying an upward trajectory in the daily new COVID-19 cases, the ministry said. India’s total active caseload is rising after touching its lowest mark in mid-February, the ministry highlighted. It increased to 3.45 lakh (3,45,377) on Tuesday, a net rise of 10,731 cases recorded from the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours. Three states — Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab — accounted for 75.15 percent of total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounted for 62.71 percent of the total active cases in India. The doubling time decreased from 504.4 days on 1 March to 202.3 days on 23 March. Over 4.8 crore (4,84,94,594) vaccine doses have been administered through7,84,612 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am on Tuesday. The first dose administration crossed the 4 crore-mark on Tuesday (4,06,31,153). The 4,84,94,594 beneficiaries include 78,59,579 HCWs (first dose), 49,59,964 HCWs (second dose),82,42,127 FLWs (firstdose) and 29,03,477 FLWs (second dose), 42,98,310 persons aged more than 45 to 60 specific co-morbidities (first dose) and more than 2 crore (2,02,31,137) beneficiaries aged more than 60 years. As on day 66 of the vaccination drive (22 March), more than 32 lakh (32,53,095) vaccine doses were given. Out of which, 29,03,030 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 48,345 sessions for the first dose (HCWs and FLWs) and 3,50,065 HCWs and FLWs received the second dose of the vaccine.

#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive

A record 32,53,095 COVID19 vaccinations in the last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/W0z580GtTO

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 23, 2021

India’s cumulative recoveries surged to 1,11,81,253, with29,785 recoveries being registered in a span of 24 hours. Besides, 199 deaths were reported in a span of 24 hours. Six states accounted for 80.4 percent of the daily deaths, with Maharashtra and Punjab each reporting 58 casualties. Kerala and Chhattisgarh followed with 12 deaths each.

#Unite2FightCorona

199 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours.

Six States account for 80.4% of the daily deaths. pic.twitter.com/C5gZZzlGPW

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) March 23, 2021

More from India

Supreme Court clears Vantara elephant project, rejects PIL: Top 5 things to know Focus back to India-US trade deal: Trump’s negotiators landing in New Delhi tonight

Fourteen states and UTs have not reported any COVID19 deaths in the last 24 hours. These are Jammu and Kashmir, Goa, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.