Back to WFH: Amid rise in COVID-19 cases, Supreme Court agrees to hear lawyers on video call

On Wednesday, India recorded 4,435 new COVID-19 infections, the biggest single-day jump in 163 days (five months and 13 days), while the number of active cases increased to 23,091, according to Union health ministry data.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud on Wednesday (April 5) took note of the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country and said the Supreme Court is willing to hear lawyers via video conferencing.

Referring to recent media reports, a bench comprising the CJI and Justice JB Pardiwala said the court is more than willing to permit lawyers to appear through the hybrid mode. "We can hear you through video conferencing mode also," the CJI said.

On Wednesday, India recorded 4,435 new COVID-19 infections, the biggest single-day jump in 163 days (five months and 13 days), while the number of active cases increased to 23,091, according to Union health ministry data.

With the fresh cases, India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 4.47 crore (4,47,33,719). The death toll increased to 5,30,916 with 15 deaths, the data stated.

According to the health ministry, as many as four deaths were reported from Maharashtra; one death each was reported from Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Puducherry and Rajasthan; and four were reconciled by Kerala.

At 23,091, the active cases now comprise 0.05 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.76 per cent, according to the health ministry website.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.38 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 2.79 percent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,79,712, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.19 percent.

According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.