After recording over 400,000 fresh cases for four consecutive days, the single-day rise in new coronavirus infections in India fell to 329,000 taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 2,29,92,517, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Tuesday. A total of 3,29,942 infections were reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death count climbed to 2,49,992 with 3,876 fresh fatalities, the data showed.
After registering a steady rise for two months, the active cases have reduced to 37,15,221 comprising 16.16 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate was recorded at 82.75 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,90,27,304, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09 per cent, the data stated.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the Centre and the state governments are doing everything possible to tackle the Covid crisis, while asserting that only those who perform commit mistakes. Singh said, "The speed displayed by the Uttar Pradesh government in tackling the Covid cases should be praised. Mistakes can be committed by anyone. Only a person who performs will commit mistakes. But this is not the time for criticism, if anyone spots any loophole and offers suggestions, the state government will welcome it."
Joining the list of growing states, Telangana, has enforced a 10-day lockdown from Wednesday amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Apart from Andhra - where there is a partial curfew - all other southern states would be in lockdown. The Nagaland government decided to clamp total lockdown in the state for seven days from May 14.
India's Covid tally crossed the 20,00,000 mark on August 7 last year, the 30,00,000 mark on August 23, the 40,00,000 mark on September 5 and the 50,00,000 mark on September 16. It went past 60,00,000 on September 28, 70,00,000 on October 11, 80,00,000 on October 29, 90,00,000 on November 20 and the 10 million mark on December 19 last year. The figure crossed the grim milestone of 20 million on May 4. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 30,37,50,077 samples have so far been tested for the viral disease across the country.
The 3,876 new fatalities include 864 from Maharashtra, 482 from Karnataka, 332 from Delhi, 297 from Uttar Pradesh, 241 from Tamil Nadu, 223 from Chhattisgarh,171 from Punjab, 160 from Rajasthan, 155 from Haryana, 141 from Jharkhand, 127 from West Bengal, 119 from Gujarat and 118 from Uttarakhand. A total of 2,42,362 deaths have been reported so far in the country, including 75,277 from Maharashtra, 19,071 from Delhi, 18,286 from Karnataka, 15,412 from Tamil Nadu, 15,170 from Uttar Pradesh, 12,203 from West Bengal, 10,381 from Chhattisgarh and 10,315 from Punjab. The health ministry stressed that more than 70% of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities. “Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.
Positivity rate 20% or more
Over 40% of India’s 741 districts, or 301 of them, had a test positivity rate of 20% or more for the week from May 1 to May 7, according to data put out by the Union health ministry. The fact that these districts are spread across 31 of the country’s 36 states and UTs reveals how widespread the current surge in Covid infections is. Of the 15 districts with positivity rates above 50% for the period, Haryana had four and Arunachal Pradesh and Rajasthan two each. What is striking is that most of these districts are rural ones. Since the testing numbers are not available, it is not clear whether this is due to inadequate testing or not.
The highest positivity rates for the seven-day period were in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh which registered 91.5%, but this is probably more an indication of an extremely low number of tests. Next on the list were Yanam in Puducherry, Bikaner in Rajasthan, Diban Valley in Arunchal Pradesh and Pali in Rajasthan. The state with the highest proportion of districts on the 20%-plus list is Kerala with 13 of its 14 districts figuring here. Haryana (19 out of 22), West Bengal (19 out of 23), Delhi (9 out of 11) and Karnataka (24 out of 31) were the others with over 70% of their districts in this worrying list. All districts in Goa and Puducherry, the lone district in Chandigarh and three out of four in Sikkim were also part of it.
