Maharashtra accounts for more than half of both new and total active coronavirus infections, Union Health Ministry data showed on Monday. On the whole, India reported 18,599 new Covid-19 cases, 14,278 recoveries, and 97 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this, the total cases reached 1,12,29,398, including 1,88,747 active cases and 1,08,82,798 total recoveries. However, the death count mounted to 1,57,853, including the new deaths. With 99,205 active cases, Maharashtra continues to remain the most-affected coronavirus state, followed by Kerala with 41,162 active cases.
Delhi recorded 261 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Monday, taking the death toll to 10,922. The positivity rate stood at 0.31 per cent.
Maharashtra, however, reported a drop in infections with 8,744 new coronavirus cases and 22 deaths, taking the tally to 22,28,471 and the toll to 52,500, while the recovery toll stood at 20,77112 and the active cases in the state at 97,637. The state had reported over 10,000 cases yesterday. Mumbai reported 1,014 fresh cases, a day after registering 1,100.
Goa›s coronavirus caseload went up by 54 and reached 55,463 on Monday, while the day saw 110 people getting discharged. The death toll remained unchanged at 799 for the third consecutive day. The state has a recovery count of 54,032, leaving it with 632 active cases.
Kerala reported 1,412 fresh Covid-19 cases on Monday, while 3,030 people have recovered from the infection, with the active cases in the state touching 39,236. While the total virus caseload soared to 10,79,088, as many as 10,34,895 people have been cured of the disease.
The number of active coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh once again shot past the 1,000 mark as 74 were added afresh on Monday. In the 24 hours ending 9 am on Monday, 61 patients had recovered, while two more succumbed to Covid-19. It said the total positives in the state so far touched 8,90,766, recoveries 8,82,581 and deaths 7,176. The active caseload was 1,009.
Telangana recorded 111 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the tally to over three lakh cases, while the death toll rose to 1,642 with one more fatality on Monday. While the overall tally rose to 3,00,011 with 111 fresh infections, the cumulative recovered cases stood at 2,96,562 and 1,807 were under treatment. The recovery rate in the state was 98.85 percent, while it was 96.9 percent in the country. The case fatality rate in the state was 0.54 percent, while it was 1.4 percent at the national level.
Experts say India’s relatively low hospitalisation and fatality rates suggest the pandemic is approaching its next phase of “largely manageable local outbreaks, such as those being seen in Maharashtra.
The health ministry had said it had sent expert teams to many states and Union territories showing a rise in cases so as to understand the challenges and issues they face.
One team said the spurt in Maharashtra could be due to pandemic fatigue, village elections, weddings, the reopening of schools and crowded public transport. “The virus is spreading to hitherto unaffected areas and most cases are asymptomatic,” it said in a report on Saturday. “People are not…strictly following quarantine or getting testing done. The sense is that the current wave is less virulent.”
The report did not say how the current surge was determined to be less infectious, but the Centre has earlier ruled out new variants as the cause of the rise.
WITH INPUTS FROM REUTERS