India registered 40,134 fresh Covid-19 infections, pushing its virus tally to 3,16,95,958, while the number of active cases recorded an increase for the sixth consecutive day, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The death toll from the pandemic climbed to 4,24,773 with 422 daily fatalities.
The number of active coronavirus cases has increased to 4,13,718 and comprises 1.31% of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.35%, the data showed. An increase of 2,766 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Also, 14,28,984 tests were conducted on Sunday, taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of Covid-19 in the country to 46,96,45,494, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.81%. The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.37%, according to the health ministry.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,08,57,467, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34%, the data stated. Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 47.22 crore under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.
NDMA may be used to issue orders
The Centre may consider using the National Disaster Management Act to issue directions to states where Covid positivity rates are high unless the situation changes for the better and central advisories to restrict movement are followed in areas currently recording worrying levels of infections.
The Centre is looking to persuade affected states, which include Kerala that has been contributing close to 50% of current infections in the country and some of the northeast states, to implement advisories pertaining to micro containment to prevent a wider spread in the community. The Centre has curtailed directions under the NDMA since May last year when the unlock process was largely left to the states.
There is a view that the situation cannot be allowed to drift after the high cost of the second wave in terms of lives and resources. “There are wider ramifications to failing to bring down infections. A new variant can impact our vaccine programme,” said an official.
Parts of the northeast in states like Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram have seen a rise in infections and the Centre is awaiting National Centre for Disease Control teams’ assessment of the health infrastructure and systems of detecting and reporting Covid 19.
