Up, Up, Up ... India Records Highest Single-Day Deaths at 1,341

New Delhi: A record single-day rise of 2,34,692 cases and 1,341 fatalities have pushed India's COVID-19 tally to 1,45,26,609 and the death toll due to the viral disease to 1,75,649, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The number of active coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed the 16-lakh mark, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase for the 38th day in a row, the tally of active COVID-19 cases has climbed to 16,79,740 in the country, accounting for 11.56% of its total caseload, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has dropped to 87.23%.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has gone up to 1,26,71,220, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.21%, the data stated.

India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, the 30-lakh mark on August 23, the 40-lakh mark on September 5 and the 50-lakh mark on September 16.

It went past 60 lakh on September 28 last year, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 26,49,72,022 samples have so far been tested for the viral disease in the country, including 14,95,397 on Friday.

Of the fresh cases, Maharashtra reported 63,729, followed by Uttar Pradesh(27,426) and Delhi (19,486), according to the data. All three states registered the highest daily spike in the number of coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. West Bengal, where Assembly polls are underway, also recorded the highest-ever daily jump of 6,910 cases.

After Maha Govt Plea, Railways’ Ro-Ro Service to Transport Oxygen

The Railways has formulated a policy for the transportation of liquid medical oxygen in cryogenic tankers after a plea by the government of Maharashtra, one of the worst affected states by the coronavirus, to combat the pandemic.

The policy, made public late Friday night, said the cryogenic tankers will be transported as a paid-for roll-on-roll (Ro-Ro) service to various destinations across states.

The circular said Maharashtra's health secretary had requested for the transport of medical oxygen in cryogenic containers.

"The matter has been examined. Competent authority has approved the transport of liquid medical oxygen in cryogenic containers," it said and detailing the charges to be levied for the service.

The circular said the staff accompanying liquid oxygen trucks to be loaded on the Ro-Ro service will be charged second class ticket for the journey and only two persons will be allowed to accompany the truck.

The empty flow direction of the containers will also be charged by the railways

Ladakh Registers Highest Single-Day Spike

Leh: Ladakh recorded 245 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike this year, pushing the virus case count in the Union Territory to 11,709, an official bulletin said on Saturday.

The detection of the new cases – 236 in Leh and nine in Kargil – during the past 24 hours, raised the number of active cases to 1,363, the bulletin released by the Directorate of Health Services, Ladakh said.