Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are witnessing a surge in infections with fresh cases more than doubled in a week. Delhi logged by far the highest count of new cases at 2,307, a rise of 145 per cent over last week's tally of 943. The capital accounted for more than a third of all cases reported in the country.
In Haryana, weekly cases surged to 1,119, up 118 per cent from the previous week's count of 514. Uttar Pradesh reported a 141 per cent spike, with 540 cases this week. A majority of the new cases were reported from Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad.
Gujarat recorded 110 cases as opposed to 115 in the previous week, while Rajasthan logged a marginal rise in cases -- 90 as compared to 67.
Active cases of the virus in the country stood at around 12,000, up nearly 1,000 during the week due to the spike in the Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Recently, several schools in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad reported COVID-19 cases, prompting the government to issue guidelines for parents who are sending their kids to school.
On Saturday, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said COVID-19 cases may have been rising in the capital, but there is no need to worry as hospitalisation is low.
On Monday, Air India cancelled flights to Hong Kong between April 18-April 23, 2022, due to 'restrictions imposed by the Hong Kong authorities and limited demand on the sector'. Earlier, Hong Kong had banned Air India services till April 24 after three passengers on one of its flights tested positive for COVID-19 post arrival on Saturday.
Experts had warned that a COVID-19 mutant called BA.2 is thought to be about 30 per cent more contagious, and can spread across the nation.
Besides the US, China's financial capital Shanghai also struggles to battle fresh COVID-19 outbreaks, pushing nearly 26 million into lockdown.
In Shanghai, residents are facing a shortage of food and essential commodities amid the stringent lockdown. There were also protests against the government imposing strict COVID-19 norms. Many videos of people screaming from their windows in Shanghai went viral on social media.
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