COVID-19: 83 per cent of 18,000 new cases in 6 states; toll up by 133

A pedestrian walks past a mural with Vincent Van Gogh’s self-portrait and Johannes Vermeer’s ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ wearing masks to spread awareness about coronavirus in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Six states - Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu - accounted for 83.76 per cent of the 17,921 cases of COVID-19 reported in the country in a day, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday. India's tally of active COVID-19 cases stood at 1.84 lakh and comprised 1.64 per cent of the total infections, according to the ministry's data.

The total number of tests conducted in India so far has crossed 22 crore and the daily positivity rate stood at 2.43 per cent. Maharashtra continued to report the highest daily new cases at 9,927, followed by Kerala with 2,316 cases and Punjab 1,027 fresh instances of the infection. According to the ministry, 133 deaths were reported in a day, with five states accounting for 77.44 per cent of the fatalities.

Maharashtra saw the maximum daily deaths at 56, followed by Punjab where 20 people succumbed to the disease and Kerala witnessing 16 fatalities. Nineteen states and Union Territories have not reported any COVID-19 death in a day. These are Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Bihar, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Sikkim, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Tripura, Mizoram, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal Pradesh.

On Day-53 of the vaccination drive, more than 13.5 lakh vaccine doses were given in 52,351 sessions. Out of this, 10,60,944 beneficiaries were administered the first dose and 2,98,229 healthcare and frontline workers received the second dose of the vaccine.

ICICI Bank, Skoda Auto to bear cost of staff's vaccination
ICICI Bank on Wednesday announced that it will cover the cost of inoculating about 1 lakh employees of the bank and their families against coronavirus. "ICICI Bank will reimburse the cost of the two mandated vaccine shots for its employees and their dependent family members," said the bank. Skoda Auto Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd (SAVWIPL) also said it will pay for the vaccination of all its employees and their dependents - about 36,000 people. The firm has commenced the drive for its staff and their dependents in line with the ongoing government rules, said SAVWIPL. Apart from the on-roll employees, the programme will also cover the apprentices, and will be working with its suppliers to cover the third party workers, it said.

1,12,62,707
Total number of cases in the country as of today

1,58,063
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India

1,09,20,046
Patients recovered and discharged in india as of today

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