NEW DELHI: Over the past five days, India has seen the sharpest surge in Covid-19 infections in at least the last 10 months, with the seven-day rolling average of daily cases rising by as much as 39% during this period.
The count of daily cases almost touched 40,000 on Thursday, with 39,670 fresh infections recorded in the past 24 hours. This was the highest single-day tally of cases since November 28 last year. Maharashtra logged its highest-ever daily case count of 25,833, while 15 other states/Union territories reported their highest single-day tallies since January or earlier.
In the last five days, the seven-day average of daily cases has been growing by over 5% every day. The growth rates during this period have been 5.2%, 5.8%, 6.6%, 7.4% and 8.7%. This is the sharpest rise in daily cases sustained over a period of five days in TOI’s records going back to the first week of May. Previously, daily growth of over 5% was seen for a maximum of four days, from May 19 to 22.
Deaths have also been rising but not at the same pace as the spurt in cases. India reported 154 fatalities from the virus on Thursday, the third successive day of 150-plus toll in the country.

The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths crossed 150 on Thursday for the first time since January 23. Not just Maharashtra, the case count in Mumbai too smashed its previous single-day tally. Mumbai posted 2,877 new infections, more than its previous high of 2,848 cases recorded on October 10, 2020. The silver lining was that Thursday’s Covid-19 deaths in the state were eight times lower than on September 11.
Infections were surging in most states outside the northeast, and places such as Odisha and Bihar. Punjab reported 2,387 fresh cases, the highest tally in the state since September 19. The UT of Chandigarh also reported its highest tally of cases (211) since September 25.
Karnataka recorded 1,488, highest since November 28, with Bengaluru Urban alone accounting for 925 infections. Chhattisgarh logged over 1,000 new infections, its highest tally since January 4, becoming the fifth state to register over 1,000 cases in a day since January.
Cases were up in Gujarat (1,276 new infections), Tamil Nadu (989), Madhya Pradesh (917), Haryana (633), Delhi (607), Uttar Pradesh (321), Rajasthan (327), Bengal (323), Himachal Pradesh (171), Jharkhand (97), J&K (140) and Puducherry (81). All these states/UTs registered their highest single-day case count since January or earlier.