India sees steepest spike in Covid-19 cases: 3,900 infections, 195 deaths in 24hrs
In the steepest spike witnessed so far, India has recorded 195 deaths, 3,900 cases of Coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities to 1,568 and number of infections to 46,433, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data released on Tuesday.
Of the total cases, 32,134 are active and 12,727 people have been cured.
Maharashtra remains the worst-hit state with the total number of cases rising to 14,541 and 583 deaths.
Gujarat has reported 5,804 cases so far followed by Delhi with 4,898 cases, according to the Health Ministry data.
The other states which have seen a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases are Madhya Pradesh (2,942), Rajasthan (3061), Tamil Nadu (3,550) and Uttar Pradesh (2,766).
Maharashtra has the highest number of fatalities, among all the states, followed by Gujarat with 319 deaths, Madhya Pradesh 165, Rajasthan 77 and Delhi 64.
The rise in infections comes as the Union Health Ministry in its daily briefing on Monday evening said that the doubling time of Coronavirus cases has improved from 3.4 before lockdown to 12 days presently, adding that lockdown and containment efforts are yielding results.
"Our challenge now is how to further improve these results, to further increase doubling time," Joint Secretary, Health, Lav Agarwal said.
It was also stated that India's recovery rate was now at 27.52 per cent, showing a positive trend.
The Union Health Ministry had also said that the disease curve was relatively flat as of now.
Responding to a query on Coronavirus cases reaching the peak in May end, Agarwal replied that the question of peak is linked to the collective effort of everybody.
"As the curve is relatively flat as of now. If we work collectively, peaks may not come, but if we fail then, we may see spikes in cases", said Agarwal. He also said there are no issues related to testing of cases so far and 57,474 tests were done in the past 24 hours.
Agarwal insisted that the spread of infectious disease is like geometric progression. "We are transitioning to a new normal, we need to compulsorily wear face masks/covers in public places; preventive measures need to be followed outside containment zones as well," he said.
Meanwhile, India entered the third phase of lockdown on Monday which will continue till May 17. However, the extended period will see considerable relaxations in orange and green zones in a major relief for the people.
However, businesses and movement of people in containment spots and red zones will remain prohibited.
The Health Ministry last Thursday finalised the list of containment zones and divided the states and districts into different categories according to the COVID-19 situation in these areas.
As per the list, 130 districts fall under the Red Zones, 284 in the Orange Zones and 319 in Green Zones.
Copyright: The Statesman/ Asia News Network
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