India Records 3,016 New Covid Cases, Highest In Nearly 6 Months

India recorded 3,016 new Covid cases in past 24 hours, a 40 per cent jump since yesterday. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 2.7 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.71 per cent, according to the Union health ministry data. Thursday's infection count is the highest in nearly six months. India had reported 3,375 cases on October 2 last year.

The country's COVID-19 death count has increased to 5,30,862 with 14 deaths -- three reported by Maharashtra, two from Delhi and one reported by Himachal Pradesh in a span of 24 hours and eight reconciled by Kerala.

The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, according to the health ministry website.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,68,321, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.  

Several states plan to hold emergency meetings over the alarming rise in Covid cases this week. Delhi, where the infection count had dropped to 0 on January 16, recorded 300 cases in the last 24 hours. Delhi government today urged citizens not to panic. After a meeting to review the situation, the Aam Aadmi Party government asked those with flu-like symptoms to visit masks when visiting hospitals.

Several districts in Maharashtra such as Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Sangli have also reported a sharp rise in Covid cases. Maharashtra government says that despite all their efforts, many people are not taking the Covid vaccine booster dose. Officials say that not even 1 crore people have taken the booster dose in the state yet.