Over 2.57 crore people in India have been infected with Covid-19 so far, with over 2.76 lakh fresh cases being registered in 24 hours, as per data on Thursday. The country also recorded 3,874 deaths, pushing the overall toll to 287,122.
The Health Ministry said on Thursday that seven states have more than 25 percent case positivity, while 22 states have more than 15 percent case positivity. However, it also said that the number of districts reporting a decline in case positivity have increased from 210 in April 29-May 5 to 303 in May 13-19.
Most notably, Delhi reported 3,231 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, the lowest number of fresh cases since 1 April this year. The positivity rate has also come down to 5.5 percent over the 24-hour period amid the Covid-induced lockdown in the national capital, which has been imposed since 19 April. This is the lowest positivity rate since 6 April, when 4.93 percent was recorded.
The recovery rate is as high as 95.5 percent in Delhi, the highest since 7 April when Delhi had 95.57 percent recoveries. In 24 hours, 7,831 people were discharged, taking the total number of recoveries to 13,47,157.
Delhi also recorded the lowest number of active cases with 40,214 since 12 April when 38,095 cases were registered.
In Mumbai, cases have decreased by 25 percent in the last ten days, and deaths have also reduced by 23 percent. On 10 May, there were 1,794 cases and 74 deaths in the commercial capital, but on Thursday, there were 1,433 cases and 59 deaths.
However, despite the decline in Covid cases in India’s worst-affected cities, the number of people hospitalised or dying due to Covid is still worryingly high.
Max Hospitals, Delhi’s biggest private hospital chain, has seen more than 30,000 patients being admitted during the second wave or since April first week. Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director of Max Healthcare, told a news channel that they had a monthly mortality rate of 6 percent during the first wave, which has increased to 7.6 percent this time. “In the 45 age group, mortality rate has increased from 7-9 per cent to 9-11 per cent this time,” he stated.
Officials of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital, Delhi’s biggest Covid-dedicated hospital, run by the Delhi government, say that late hospitalisations have contributed to the numbers.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told the Centre that mucormycosis or black fungus, which has claimed 90 lives in the state so far, is a matter of “prime concern for the state” at present.
Tope made the statement after a meeting where Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with district magistrates and field officials on the Covid-19. According to PTI, 17 district collectors from Maharashtra attended the meeting.