Sharp increase in COVID-19 cases with 35,178 new infections reported in 24 hours

A day after India reported the lowest COVID-19 count in five months, the country again witnessed a sharp increase in cases on Wednesday with 35,178 new infections reported in the past 24 hours. This is nearly a 40% increase from Tuesday's numbers. 

It also reported 440 deaths and 37,169 recoveries, the Union Health Ministry data released today said. As many as 17,97,559 tests were conducted on Tuesday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 49,84,27,083.

The active cases have fallen to 3,67,415, the lowest in 148 days, and are 1.14% of total cases. 37,169 people were discharged after treatment in the past 24 hours, taking cumulative recoveries to around 3.15 crore. The recovery rate is 97.52%, the highest since March last year.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.96%. It has been less than 3% for the last 23 days. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.95%. It has been below 3% for the last 54 days, according to the Health Ministry. Around 55 lakh vaccine doses have been administered in the past 24 hours, taking total doses administered to 56.1 crores. 

Statewise COVID-19 numbers

With the highest numbers, Kerala reported over 21,000 new cases in 24 hours. This is a significant increase from the 12,294 reported on Monday. The active caseload soared to over 1.75 lakh.

Tamil Nadu recorded 1,804 positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 25,92,436. The state recorded 32 deaths on Tuesday, putting the state toll at 34,579.

Delhi reported 38 fresh cases and four fatalities, and the positivity rate stood at 0.07% (unchanged from a day earlier), according to a Health Department bulletin issued on Tuesday.

Maharashtra reported 4,408 new COVID-19 cases taking the state's tally to 6,401,213. The state also saw 116 casualties during the same period. The tally of active cases also dropped to 61,306.