Coronavirus India updates: Active cases touch 2.1 lakh

Brazil surpassed India to become the second worst-hit country in the world after a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases. It recorded 85,663 new cases and 2,216 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, India on Sunday reported 25,317 new Covid-19 cases, the highest since December 19, taking the total tally of infections to 1,13,59,048, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. With 158 deaths in the last 24 hours, the overall death toll rose to 1,58,607.

Active cases jumped by more than 8,000 to 2.1 lakh now, to a level that last existed on January 15. There are 2,10,544 active coronavirus cases while as many as 1,09,89,897 people have recovered from the disease. Maharashtra reported 15,602 new cases, while Punjab found fresh 1,510 cases, the highest since September 25.

Meanwhile, passengers who do not wear their masks “properly” or follow social distancing norms during a flight could be de-boarded or put on the no-fly list for at least three months.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a circular to all airlines, airports and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), to treat passengers who violate the Covid-19 protocol — even after repeated warnings during the course of the flight — as “unruly passengers”.

The DGCA order comes after Delhi High Court this week took suo motu note of the fact that many passengers in an Air India flight from Kolkata to New Delhi on March 5 wore masks below their chin and showed a “stubborn reluctance” to wear them properly.