India logs 699 Covid cases, 2 deaths in one day, govt monitoring new variant
1 min read 21 Mar 2023, 10:37 PM ISTIndia is witnessed a sudden surge of Covid-19 cases in past few days and health experts are pointing at a new variant
PremiumIndia recorded 699 cases and 2 deaths from the Covid-19 virus on Tuesday as the total number of active cases reached 6,559, according to the press release by Union Health Ministry. One death was reported from Delhi, while another was reported from the state of Maharashtra.
India has seen a sudden increase in the number of Covid 19, the daily number of cases crossed 1,000 in past few days. The state of Maharashtra is particularly affected and on Tuesday 280 cases were recorded in the state with one person losing his life due to the Covid-19 infection. The total count of daily cases in the state nearly doubled from Monday, when Maharashtra recorded 128 cases.
As per the official document, there has been an increase in the total number of tests carried out in the state, which has now reached 8,65,57,062, as a result of testing 7,845 swab samples within the last 24 hours.
Among the most recent instances of infection, Pune circle had the highest number of cases, which was 133, followed by 101 cases in Mumbai, 14 cases in Nashik, 10 cases in Kolhapur, 9 cases in Nagpur, 7 cases in Akola, and 6 cases in Aurangabad.
The situation in the national capital is also concerning with the test positivity rate touching 5.83% on Tuesday. The union territory has reported one death and 83 fresh cases of the Covid-19 virus. "During the last 24 hours, 1423 swab samples were tested for Covid in Delhi and 83 new cases have been reported. A total of 21 patients were also deemed to have recovered today," a health official told the news agency ANI.
In the past few days, India has witnessed a sudden surge in the cases of the Covid-19 virus and a new strain XBB.1.16 is facilitating the faster spread of the virus.
"All eyes should be on India! If XBB.1.16 aka #Arcturus could succeed to wade through the 'sturdy' population immunity of Indians that successfully resisted the onslaught of variants like BA.2.75, BA.5, BQs, XBB.1.5, then the whole world must be seriously worried!!," Vipin M Vashishtha, former convenor of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics and consultant pediatrician at the Mangla Hospital and Research Centre, Bijnor, said.
Read More: India saw ‘281% increase in COVID cases’ in just 14 days since XBB 1.16 variant was detected
