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    COVID-19 surge in India--key numbers

    India reported more than 56,000 COVID-19 new cases on March 30. Active cases rose to 5.40 lakh mark. Over 6.11 crore vaccinations administered till date.

    Chaitanya Mallapur
    March 30, 2021 / 11:50 AM IST
    Volunteers distribute pamphlets during an awareness campaign on the spread of COVID-19 on a street in Mumbai. (Representative image: Reuters)

    Volunteers distribute pamphlets during an awareness campaign on the spread of COVID-19 on a street in Mumbai. (Representative image: Reuters)


    India’s COVID-19 case tally now above 1.20 crore with 56,211 new cases reported as per the health ministry’s March 30, 2021 update. India reports third-highest novel coronavirus cases--after the USA and Brazil, accounting for 9 percent of the world total.

    India reported 271 new deaths and 37,028 new recoveries in the last 24 hours, the latest release shows. More than 6.11 crore vaccinations have been administered across India, according to the March 30 update, with 5,82,919 new vaccinations reported in a day.

    Of the total vaccinations administered till date, 85 percent are recipients of their first dose while 15 percent have received the second dose. Among states, Maharashtra has administered the most 5.8 million vaccine doses, followed by Rajasthan (5.5 million) and Uttar Pradesh (5.3 million).


    India now ranks 6th in the world with 5,40,720 active cases, an increase of 18,912 cases in 24 hours as per the March 30 update. Maharashtra now reports the most (3,37,928 or 62 percent) active cases in the country, followed by Kerala (24,533) and Punjab (24,143).

    covid-19-update-new (1)_March30

    COVID-19 Vaccine

    Frequently Asked Questions

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    How does a vaccine work?

    A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

    How many types of vaccines are there?

    There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

    What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

    Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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    Maharashtra reported the most (31,643 or 56 percent) new cases in the last 24 hours, followed by Punjab (2,868), Karnataka (2,792), Madhya Pradesh (2,323) and Tamil Nadu (2,279). These five states account for 75 percent of all the new cases reported in India.

    Maharashtra reported the most 102 new deaths (over 100 daily deaths for the 5th day), followed by Punjab (59), Chhattisgarh (20), Karnataka (16) and Tamil Nadu (14). These five states account for 78 percent of all the new deaths reported across the country.

    About 17 states and union territories did not report any deaths today. These include: Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli/Daman and Diu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Tripura.

    India’s recovery rate further slides down to 94.2 percent. Maharashtra recorded 20,854 new recoveries, the most, followed by Punjab (2,583), Karnataka (1,964), Kerala (1,897) and Gujarat (1,731).

    covid-19-update-new_March30

    The total recoveries in India are now over 1.13 crore while total deaths now stand at 1,62,114 as per March 30 update. The mortality rate in the country slides to 1.3 percent with Punjab reporting the highest (2.9 percent). Less than 8 lakh daily tests reported--lowest in 15 days--as on March 29 (which was a public holiday) with more than 24.26 crore tests carried out till date.

    covid-19-update-new (2)_March30

    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.

    Chaitanya Mallapur
    Tags: #coronavirus #Covid-19 #India #Maharashtra
    first published: Mar 30, 2021 11:50 am