India reported 275 deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the highest number of deaths in a single day since December 31, according to a CNN figures count from the Indian Ministry of Health.
The country also reported 47,262 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, the biggest single-day increase since November 12, bringing the total to 11,734,058 cases, including 160,441 deaths.
This is at a time when India marks a year since Covid-19’s first national blockade was imposed on the country, forcing its 1.3 billion people to stay home.
New rules: In light of the “new increase in cases in some parts of the country”, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MHA) announced on Tuesday the new Covid-19 control guidelines that will be in force until the end of April.
India recorded more than 35,000 new cases per day for seven consecutive days, according to the Ministry of Health’s CNN number count. This increase follows a “sustained decline in the number of active cases, continuously for about 5 months”, according to the order of the MHA.
Some of the measures described in Tuesday’s order included the rapid isolation of positive cases and the tracking of patient contacts positive for Covid within 72 hours.
According to the Ministry of Health on Tuesday, Maharashtra, Punjab, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu were responsible for 81% of new cases reported in the previous 24 hours. Parts of many of these states have imposed total or partial blockages and night curfews to contain the spread of the virus.
India has distributed more than 50 million doses of vaccine since January 16, when it started vaccinating health and frontline professionals, as well as those over 60 or over 45 with comorbidities. Everyone aged 45 or over will be included in the rollout as of April 1, according to the Ministry of Health.