India adds 152,879 fresh cases, 839 deaths

India recorded 152,879 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours, taking the total infection toll past 13.35 million, according to the data released by the Union ministry of health and family welfare at 8 am on Sunday morning.

As of Sunday, the active Covid-19 caseload in the country stood at 1,108,087, which accounts for 7.93% of the total confirmed cases. Death related to the viral disease are also on the rise with 839 deaths reported in a day.

It's been a week since India has started reporting over 1 lakh cases. The country hadn't breached 1 lakh mark when it was grappling with the first wave of coronavirus in September last year. The recent surge in the cases have put many states to bring strict restrictions to curb the daily rise. Mumbai, country's worst hit state by the pandemic, is currently following strict weekend lockdown and night curfews. Meanwhile, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that he will announce fresh set of guidelines for the national capital, while ruling out the possibility of a lockdown.

In a bid to intensify the vaccination programme, government has launched a four-day vaccination festival called Tika Utsav, following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call during the meeting with chief ministers of all states and UTs earlier this week.

The overall global Covid-19 caseload has topped 135 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 2.92 million, according to the Johns Hopkins University.