COVID-19: India sees largest single-day spike this year

NEW DELHI

After witnessing a steady decline in the daily coronavirus cases, several states in India have started to see a spike in new cases, with the country reporting almost 25,000 infections on Saturday.

According to the Health Ministry, the western state of Maharashtra alone reported over 15,000 new cases in the last 24 hours.

As of Saturday morning, the country saw 24,882 new cases and 140 deaths, pushing the case load above 11.33 million and the death toll to 158,446.

Saturday’s new cases are the largest single-day spike this year.

In September, the daily case toll crossed 90,000, but later started to decline across the country, with the numbers reaching an eight-month low in end-January. But the figures started to show an increase again.

Experts say easing of restrictions and people not adhering to the guidelines is triggering an increase again.

According to the Health Ministry, states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu continue to report a surge in the daily coronavirus cases and these states accounted for 85.6% of the new cases as of Friday morning.

The new surge has prompted authorities to order restrictions in many cities to prevent the further spread of the virus.

India imposed a nationwide lockdown in March last year to prevent the spread of coronavirus, bringing the country to a grinding halt.

Since June last year, the country has started opening up economic activities gradually.

India is currently also conducting the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination. So far, over 26 million vaccine doses have been administered, including the elderly people.