India's coronavirus count continues to surge with 59,118 new infections reported in the last 24 hours, pushing the country's total COVID-19 cases to above 1.18 crore, the health ministry’s update on March 26 said.
India reported 257 deaths and 32,987 new recoveries in the last 24 hours, the latest release shows. More than 5.55 crore vaccine doses have been administered across India, according to the March 26 update, with 23,58,731 new vaccinations reported in a day.
Of the total vaccines, 85 percent are first doses, while 15 percent are second doses. Among states, Maharashtra has administered the most 5.2 million vaccines followed by Rajasthan (5.1 million) and Uttar Pradesh (5 million).
Active cases rose to 4,21,066 with an increase of 25,874 cases on March 26. Maharashtra continues to reports the most—2,64,001 or 63 percent— active cases in the country followed by Kerala (24,690) and Punjab (21,405).The western state also reported the most—35,952 or 61 percent—new cases in the last 24 hours followed by Punjab (2,661), Karnataka (2,523), Chhattisgarh (2,419) and Kerala (1,989). These five states together account for 77 percent of all the new cases in India.
Maharashtra reported the most (111) new deaths followed by Punjab (43), Chhattisgarh (15, Kerala (12) and Tamil Nadu (11). These five states account for 75 percent of the new deaths reported across the country.
About 15 states and union territories did not report any deaths in the last 24 hours. These include Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli/Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tripura.
The galloping infections have pushed the recovery rate lower, which further slipped to 95.1 percent. Maharashtra recorded 20,444 new recoveries, the most, followed by Kerala (1,865), Punjab (1,735), Gujarat (1,405) and Kerala (1,192).
The total number of COVID-19 cases in India is now at 1,18,46,652 with more than 1.12 crore recoveries and 1,60,949 deaths as per March 26 update. The mortality rate in the country stands at 1.4 percent, with Punjab reporting the highest (2.9 percent). More than 11 lakh daily tests reported as on March 25 with more than 23.86 crore tests carried out to date.
Despite the high number of cases and deaths reported by India, the country fares better when compared with other nations in terms of per million population.