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Friday, April 19th 2024
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New day, new high: Record 2.17 lakh cases as India continues to reel under Covid wave

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KM/Umar Ganie

India on Friday reported 2,17,353 new Covid-19 cases and 1,185 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry said.

This was the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days. As many as 1,185 people lost their lives due to the coronavirus disease in the same period, according to the health ministry’s dashboard at 8am.

A total of 1,18,302 people were discharged. The total number of cases recorded in India stand at 1,42,91,917, total recoveries are at 1,25,47,866, active cases at 15,69,743 and death toll is at 1,74,308. A total of 11,72,23,509 people have been vaccinated so far.

According to news agency PTI, the country on Thursday registered a steady increase in the number of active cases of the disease for the 36th day in a row.

During a press conference on Friday, health minister Harsh Vardhan said, “Our covid warriors and frontline workers did a great job and we all should appreciate them.”

Several cities across the country will see curfews starting on Friday evening.

A weekend curfew will begin in Delhi 10 pm on Friday and continue till 6 am on Monday morning. According to the new directives, shopping malls, gyms, spas, auditoriums, assembly halls, entertainment parks and similar public places will be shut. While cinemas and theatres have been allowed to operate on 30% capacity, restaurants and other eateries will only provide take-away and home delivery services.