COVID-19 infections on the rise: Maharashtra, Kerala have 74% active cases; 5 states account for 78.31% deaths

NewDelhi February 23 :In an alarming situation, the union health ministry on Monday said that 74 per cent of the active COVID-19 cases are present in Kerala and Maharashtra. The government also said that Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Jammu in Kashmir have been witnessing a daily spike in coronavirus infections.

The union ministry of health and family welfare today said that 83 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Notably, five states account for 78.31 per cent of the new coronavirus-related fatalities.

In Maharashtra, 35 COVID patients have succumbed in the last 24 hours, 15 in Kerala, six in Punjab, five in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh recorded four fatalities.

As per the data released by the health ministry, 19 states/UTs have not reported any COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours.

These are are Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, J&K, Rajasthan, Odisha, Goa, Chandigarh, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, Lakshadweep, Tripura, Nagaland, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The country’s Active caseload was recorded 1,50,055 as of today, the health ministry said. 14,199 new daily coronavirus cases were in the last 24 hours, out of which 86.3 per cent of the new cases are from five states. Maharashtra recorded 6,971 infections in the last 24 hours, Kerala 4,070, Tamil Nadu 452, Karnataka 413 and Punjab 348.

The ministry in its release confirmed that India has registered a record in the number of COVID-19 cumulative tests. It has crossed the 21.15 crore (21,15,51,746) tests.6,20,216 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

“Progressive countrywide expansion in testing infrastructure has played a crucial role in the steep rise of testing numbers. With 2393 testing labs in the country including 1,220 government laboratories and 1,173 Private laboratories, the daily testing capacity has got a substantial boost,” it said.

India’s cumulative national Positivity Rate is presently pegged at 5.20 per cent, the government said.

As per the government data, 1,11,16,854 have been vaccinated as per the provisional report till 8 am today.