70 districts in 16 states saw 150 pc increase in COVID-19 cases in last 15 days: Centre

Despite the increase of COVID-19 cases across states and union territories in the country, India's coronavirus mortality rate remains below two per cent while the cumulative positivity rate has dropped below five per cent, informed Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Wednesday.

While addressing a press briefing regarding the COVID-19 situation in the country, the Health Secretary informed that a 43 per cent week-on-week increase in new coronavirus cases and almost 37 per cent week-on-week increase in new deaths have been recorded.

"Cases dropped after mid-September. From 97,000 to 9,000. Cases are building up again, which is a matter of concern. 70 districts in 16 states saw a 150 per cent increase in COVID-19 cases in the last 15 days," he added.

Nearly 60 per cent of all active cases are concentrated in Maharashtra, one of the worst affected states in the country.

With a positivity rate of 1.3 per cent, the health ministry advised Karnataka to increase the absolute number of tests.

"In the last 24 hours, more than 400 cases have been reported in Delhi. Positivity rate is less than one per cent, however, it has increased from 0.4 per cent to 0.6 per cent," Bhushan added.

He further informed, "On March 15, 8.34 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered worldwide, of which India alone administered 36 per cent of doses. Till now, 3.51 crore total doses have been administrated."

As many as 28,903 new COVID-19 cases and 17,741 recoveries were reported in India in the last 24 hours, the health ministry informed on Wednesday morning.

With the addition of fresh infections, the total cases in the country reached 1,14,38,734, including 2,34,406 active cases and 1,10,45,284 recoveries. The death toll stands at 1,59,044 including 188 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours.

( With inputs from ANI )