India records 97 COVID-19 deaths, 18,599 new cases of infection

New Delhi, March 8, 2021

India today recorded 97 deaths due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 18,599 new cases of infection in the last 24 hours as the continuing spike in the numbers of fresh cases in some states, especially Maharashtra, remained a cause of concern.

This is the third consecutive day that the number of new cases has remained above 18,000, which was the level in the beginning of January this year.

The number of deaths in a single day has fallen below 100 today after remaining above that level for three days.

Of the 18,599 new cases, Maharashtra alone accounted for 11,141, followed by Kerala with 2,100 and Punjab with 1,043 new cases.

Of the 97 deaths recorded today, Maharashtra accounted for the most at 38, followed by Punjab with 17 and Kerala with 13 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The Centre has rushed high-level public health teams to Maharashtra and Punjab to assist the state administrations in COVID-19 control and containment measures in view of the recent spike in cases there.

The Centre had earlier deputed high-level teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil nadu, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir to support them in the fight against the spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, more than 2.09 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far in the vaccination drive that was launched across the country on January 16.

These include 6,985,911 healthcare workers and 6,609,537 frontline workers who have received the first dose of the vaccine and 3,547,548 healthcare workers and 213,559 frontline workers who have received the second dose, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) said.

Also, 480,661 aged 45 and above with specific co-morbiditiesand 3,151,794 senior citizens (aged 60 and more) have received the first dose of the vaccine since March 1.

With the latest numbers put out by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, the death toll so far has risen to 157,853 while the total number of cases of infection in the country, since the first case was registered in late January last year, has risen to 11,229,398.

The number of deaths in a 24-hour period has remained below 200 for 47 consecutive days now. It has fallen below the 100-mark 18 times in the past 35 days.

The number of new cases of infection in a day remained below 20,000 for the 55th consecutive day today. It has fallen below 10,000 five times in the last 41 days.

The number of those who have recovered from COVID-19 rose to 10,882,798 as of this morning, up 14,278 from yesterday, making for a recovery rate of 96.91 %.

The number of active cases went up by 4,224 in the last 24 hours to 188,747.

The highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 in a single day in the country -- 1,290 -- was reported on September 16 last year. India had reported 100 deaths yesterday.

The highest number of fresh cases of infection in a 24-hour period -- 97,894 -- was reported on September 17. The country had recorded 18,711 new cases of infection yesterday.

The world has reported a total of 116.822 million cases of COVID-19 so far while the global death toll has climbed past 2.593 million as of this morning, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University in the United States, which is tracking the pandemic.

India is placed second in the world in terms of the total number of cases of infection so far, behind the United States (more than 28.991 million cases) and ahead of Brazil (more than 11.019 million cases).

In terms of the number of deaths, the country now ranks fourth after the US (524,987), Brazil (265,411) and Mexico (190,604).

NNN