With 42,015 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, India’s daily positivity rate remained less than 3 per cent for 30 days in a row. But Kerala continues to be a problem area, reporting about 40% of India’s total daily Covid cases. The state on Wednesday reported 17,481 new infections.
Following the Supreme Court’s scathing statement to the Kerala government over easing of Covid restrictions for Bakrid, the state on Wednesday announced a complete lockdown for 24-25 July. It also stated that the Health department will conduct a mass testing campaign on Friday, with a focus on districts with high test positivity rate.
The district collectors have been directed to identify and demarcate micro-containment zones in all districts, regardless of the categorisation of the Local Self Government Institution (LSGI) regions, and enforce special intensified stringent restrictions so as to bring down the new cases at the earliest.
The Health and Family Welfare Department has also been directed to conduct a mass testing campaign on 23 July with a target of 3 lakh tests across Kerala with a special focus on districts where the seven-day average test positivity rate is above 10 per cent.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the Kerala government for relaxing Covid-19 ahead of Bakrid and said it is a “shocking state of affairs” that the government has given in to the demand of traders.
“Kerala government buckling under pressure from traders to open up shops for Bakrid in high Covid-19 infection areas shows the sorry state of affairs and failure to protect life and health. Pressure of any manner cannot infringe upon the most precious right of Right to Life for citizens of India,” the court said. As for Delhi, it reported 62 new Covid-19 cases, 61 recoveries and 4 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Delhi Health Department on Wednesday. With this, the total cumulative cases in Delhi mounted to 14,35,671 including 566 active cases and 14,10,066 recoveries. The death toll touched 25,039 including the new deaths.
Mumbai on Wednesday reported 435 fresh coronavirus cases and 13 deaths in the last 24 hours. With 560 recoveries, the city currently has 6,020 active cases.
Meanwhile, the national positivity rate stood at 2.27 per cent. With the new cases reported in the last 24 hours, as many as 3,12,16,337 cases have been reported in the country so far, the Union Health Ministry informed on Tuesday.
As many as 36,977 recoveries were witnessed in the last 24 hours, taking the number to 3,03,90,687 so far. There are currently 4,07,170 active cases, which constitute 1.30 per cent of total cases.
The Covid-19 death toll climbed to 4,18,480 with 3,998 fresh fatalities in the last 24 hours as Maharashtra carried out the 14th reconciliation exercise of Covid data in the state. As a result, the state’s positive case tally increased by 2,479 while the death tally increased by 3,509, the ministry informed in its bulletin on Tuesday.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS