At 24 in a week, Delhi logs India's highest Covid deaths.

NEW DELHI: Delhi and its neighbouring states have emerged as a major Covid-19 hotspot over the past few days of the current surge. In the last seven days, Delhi reported 24 deaths linked to Covid, the highest in the country and logged the second highest number of cases at 7,664. (With Sunday's data from Delhi coming in, the seven-day count of cases in the capital has risen to 8,599 and the seven-day toll stands at 23.)

During this period

 (April 9-15), neighbouring Haryana registered 4,554 fresh cases, the fourth highest in the country, followed at number 5 by Uttar Pradesh with 3,332. Rajasthan, with a four-fold rise in cases, reported 14 fatalities from the virus, the third highest during the week after Delhi and Maharashtra.

Overall, India reported over 61,500 new cases in April 9-15, up 81% from the preceding seven days (34,011 cases) and the highest seven-day total since late August last year. Deaths in these seven days crossed the 100-mark with 113 fatalities, a 70% rise from the preceding period's toll of 67.

The seven-day test positivity rate (TPR) crossed 5% for the first time in more than 14 months. The count of active cases in the country had risen to 58,710 by last Sunday night and is likely to cross 60,000 when the day's cases are reported from all states.

Meanwhile, the number of states reporting over 2,000 fresh cases in the past seven days has risen to 10, up from four in the preceding week.

Kerala leads the list with 18,623 new cases in April 9-15, while Delhi (7,664) has displaced Maharashtra (6,048) from the second spot. Cases more than doubled in the capital from the previous seven days' count of 3,626. Haryana, at fourth place, saw a 2.4x rise in cases, from 1,915 to 4,554, while the number rose nearly three-fold in UP (1,170 to 3,332).

Other states that reported over 2,000 fresh cases in the last seven days are Tamil Nadu (3,052), Karnataka (2,253), Gujarat (2,341), Himachal Pradesh (2,163) and Rajasthan (2,016).