Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and TN account for 80.9 pc of the new cases in 24 hrs

Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu reported a surge in daily new Covid-19 cases, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. These states together account for 80.90 per cent of the new cases (40,715) reported in last 24 hours.

Maharashtra continues to report the highest daily new cases at 24,645 (60.53 per cent). It is followed by Punjab with 2,299 while Gujarat reported 1,640 new cases.

India's total active caseload is rising after touching its lowest mark in mid-February. It stands at 3.45 lakh (3,45,377) today. A net increase of 10,731 cases recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday announced that everyone above the age of 45 years can get themselves vaccinated from April 1.

Addressing a press conference here Javadekar said, "It has been decided that from 1st April, the vaccine will open for everybody above 45 years of age. We request that all eligible should immediately register and get vaccinated."

Maharashtra reported 28,699 new COVID-19 cases, 13,165 recoveries, and 132 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the State Health Department today.

Punjab reported 2,274 new COVID-19 cases, 1,426 discharges and 53 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the State government today.

Karnataka reported 2010 new COVID-19 cases, 677 discharges and 5 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state's health department today.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu reported 1,437 new COVID-19 cases, 902 recoveries and nine deaths in the last 24 hours.

Also, Delhi reported 1,101 fresh COVID19 cases, 620 recoveries and 4 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, India has crossed a significant milestone in the fight against the global pandemic. The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 5 crore today. A total of 5,00,75,162 vaccine doses have been given, as per the provisional report till 7 pm today.

These include 79,03,068 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 50,09,252 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 83,33,713 frontline workers (FLWs) (1st dose), 30,60,060 FLWs (2nd dose), 2,12,03,700 beneficiaries more than 60 years old and 45,65,369 beneficiaries aged 45 and above with specific co-morbidities.

Amid the recent spike in COVID-19 cases, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also issued new guidelines for effective control of the disease today. The guidelines will be effective from April 1 to 30.

"The main focus of the guidelines is to consolidate the substantial gains achieved in containing the spread of COVID-19, which was visible in the sustained decline in the number of active cases, continuously for about five months," MHA said.

( With inputs from ANI )