Coronavirus News Live Updates, 31 March: India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,095 fresh Covid-19 cases with the active caseload increasing to 15,208, according to Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s latest update. The death toll has risen to 5,30,867 with five people succumbing to the infection — one each reported by Goa and Gujarat and three reconciled by Kerala — in a span of 24 hours. The daily positivity was recorded at 2.61 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 1.91 per cent. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,15,786). The active cases now comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections while the national recovery rate has been recorded at 98.78 per cent, according to the ministry website. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a meeting today to review the COVID-19 situation amid a spurt in cases in the national capital, officials said. Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj and senior officials will be present at the meeting. On Thursday, Bharadwaj met with Health department officials to take stock of the situation following which he announced that Kejriwal would hold a review. (PTI) Maharashtra has seen a 15-fold rise in active Covid cases in 30 days, sparking a fresh worry about the spread of the virus. The state had just 198 active Covid cases on March 1, according to data from the health department. Read more Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and Solapur are among the top five districts that have seen a steady climb in Covid cases in the last four weeks. Pune and Mumbai account for 53 per cent of Covid cases in Maharashtra. However, state health officials are noting a rapid increase even in districts like Aurangabad, Gondia and Akola of the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16. A high Covid positivity of more than 5 per cent is a red flag and state department data indicates 14 districts where the weekly Covid positivity rate is between 5 and 14 per cent. Sangli’s Covid positivity rate during March 20-25 was 14.6 per cent while Pune reported a weekly Covid positivity rate of 11.1 per cent.
