On Wednesday, India recorded its highest single-day COVID cases count in more than five months with 53,364 positive cases for the coronavirus infection. The last time India had surpassed this total was on 23rd October when 54,350 cases were reported.

In the 2nd half of October 2020, the first wave of coronavirus was declining after having its peak on 17th September, but this time the pandemic is spreading rapidly. On 17th September, the peak of the first wave in India was just 2,000 cases short of one-lakh mark in the daily count of cases.

On Wednesday, for the second successive day, the daily COVID cases count had breached the 200-mark with 248 victims losing their lives to the virus. The total count was lower than the earlier day’s figure of 276 deaths. On 23rd October, the cases were about 1,000 more than 24th March which was 665. 

The active cases on 23rd October stood at 6,86,792 and during the 2nd half of the October cases were reducing rapidly with each day as the number of patients being discharged was outnumbering new cases. On 24th March, active cases are rising at a rapid pace and have reached at 3,96,889. In the last six days, there has been an increase by one lakh in active cases.

On Wednesday, Maharashtra reported its highest-ever count at 31,855. Also, Mumbai recorded its highest-ever daily count of 5,190 cases on Wednesday. Active cases in Maharashtra are moving closer to the 2.5-lakh mark. The daily count of deaths in Maharashtra was lower at 95 against 134 on Tuesday.

The Maharashtra government’s COVID-19 task force had been called for a strict check on people’s movement in Mumbai, including shutting the popular spots such as Juhu beach for a few weeks, limitations on post-7pm movement of people and early closing of non-essential shops.

Gujarat recorded its highest-ever count with 1,790 cases. Besides, Maharashtra and Gujarat, 19 states and Union territories had recorded their highest number of cases since January— Karnataka (2,298 cases), Andhra Pradesh (585 cases), Tamil Nadu (1,636 cases), Delhi (1,254 cases), UP (737 cases), Bengal (462 cases), Odisha (170 cases), Rajasthan (669 cases), Chhattisgarh (2,106 cases), Telangana (431 cases), Haryana (981 cases), Bihar (170 cases), MP (1,712 cases), J&K (195 cases), Jharkhand (194 cases), Uttarakhand (200 cases), Himachal (266 cases), Puducherry (125 cases) and Chandigarh (249 cases).

Source: ET Healthworld