With 39, 544 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, Maharashtra on Thursday continued to report the highest number of daily cases in the country.
Maharashtra is followed by Chhattisgarh with 4,563 cases while Karnataka reported 4,225 new cases in the last 24 hours, as per the union health ministry.
On Thursday, India's total active caseload reached 5,84,055. It now comprises 4.78 per cent of the country's total positive cases.
A net incline of 31,489 cases has been recorded from the total active caseload in the last 24 hours.
India reported 72,330 new COVID-19 cases and 459 related deaths in the last 24 hours. With these additional cases, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the country reached 1,22,21,665 while the death toll has soared up to 1,62,927.
Five states -- Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, and Punjab -- cumulatively accounted for 78.9 per cent of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra alone accounts for more than 61 per cent of the active caseload of the country.
Six states-- Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala-- accounted for 83.01 per cent of the new deaths.
With 227, Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties followed by Punjab with 55 daily deaths.
The third phase of COVID-19 vaccination for all above 45 years meanwhile has begun across the country. The Centre has warned that the situation is going from "bad to worse" and urged states to achieve 100 per cent vaccination coverage of those above the age of 45 years in surge districts within the next two weeks.
India had started COVID-19 vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with two vaccines -- Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca's vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India) and Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech Limited). In the first phase, healthcare workers were administered the vaccine. The vaccination of the Frontline Workers (FLWs) started on February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 for those who are over 60 years of age and for people aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
