Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday reviewed the Covid-19 situation and vaccination exercise in the country amid an “alarming rate of growth” in infections and deaths, with 10 states contributing to more than 91 percent of them.
PM Modi directed that Central teams consisting of public health specialists be sent to Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh, where the situation is of serious concern and said the fivefold strategy of testing, tracing, treatment, Covidappropriate behaviour, and vaccination, if implemented with utmost seriousness and commitment, would be effective in curbing the pandemic›s spread.
Over the last 24 hours, the country saw the biggest daily surge in Covid cases since mid-September, with 93,249 fresh infections, taking the tally to over 1.24 crore. This is the biggest daily rise in cases since 19 September, when 93,337 fresh infections were recorded. The death count climbed to 1,64,623 with 513 new fatalities. Registering a steady increase for the 25th day in row, the active cases surged to 6,91,597, accounting for 5.54 percent of the total infections. The recovery rate further dropped to 93.14 percent.
Maharashtra continued to witness an upsurge in recording daily Covid-19 spikes as the state reported over 57,000 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. This is the highest single-day rise in the number of cases in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic. As of date, Maharashtra has contributed 57% of the total cases and 47% of deaths in the country in the last 14 days.
With 57,074 more infections in a day, Maharashtra›s total tally of Covid-19 cases reached 30,10,597. As many as 222 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 55,878. The recovery rate is 83.8 percent and case fatality rate is 1.86 percent. In Mumbai, during the last 24 hours, there have been 11,206 new cases of Covid-19 (which is the highest ever in day-by-day figures in Mumbai). With this, the number of Covid-positive patients in Mumbai has increased to 4,52,681. There have been 25 deaths due to the virus in Mumbai during the last 24 hours in Mumbai, and a total of 11,779 deaths in the state capital so far.
Punjab has contributed 4.5% of the total number of cases in the country in the same period. However, it has contributed 16.3% of the total number of deaths, which has become a grave concern.
Similarly, although Chhattisgarh has contributed 4.3% of total cases in the country over the last 14 days, its contribution to India’s Covid death toll has exceeded 7% during the same period.
The meeting was attended by the Principal Secretary to PM, Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, Chairperson (Empowered group on Vaccine Administration), Secretary Health, Secretary Pharmaceuticals, Secretary Biotechnology, Secretary AYUSH, DG ICMR, Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India and Member NITI Aayog, besides other officials. During the meeting, various presentations were made to the attending members.
The Prime Minister directed that for sustainable Covid-19 management, awareness of the community and its involvement is paramount. “There is a need to continue Jan Bhagidari and Jan Andolan for the pandemic’s management,” said PM Modi.
During the meeting, a special campaign for Covid-appropriate behaviour, with emphasis on 100% mask usage, personal hygiene and sanitation at public places/workplaces and health facilities, was decided to be organised from 6 to 14 April 2021.
The Prime Minister also emphasised on avoiding mortality under all circumstances by ramping up healthcare infrastructure, availability of oxygen and ventilators, besides required logistics, and ensuring that clinical management protocols are followed across all hospitals as well as for those in home care.
As for Delhi, it recorded over 4,033 new cases after recording 3,500 coronavirus cases for two consecutive days, while the positivity rate rose to 4.64 percent. With the new infections, the number of cumulative cases rose to 6,76,414, while 21 more deaths took the toll to 11,081.
Haryana reported seven fresh Covid-19 fatalities which took the death toll to 3,191, while 1,904 new cases pushed the tally to 2,98,133 in the state. The number of active cases in the state stands at 12,574 and the recovery rate is 94.71 percent.
The Covid-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh jumped by 3,178 to touch 3,06,851, while 11 deaths took the toll to 4,040. Meanwhile, 2,201 people were discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours, taking the recovery count in the state to 2,81,476.
The Covid-19 death toll in Uttar Pradesh rose to 8,881 with 31 more fatalities in the state, while 4,164 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 6,30,059. With 4,164 fresh infections, the total number of cases has now risen to 6,30,059.
Kerala added 2,802 new Covid-19 cases and ten more deaths, pushing the infection count to 11,35,233 and the toll to 4,668. A total of 2,173 people recuperated from the disease, taking the total recoveries in the state to 11,02,359. There are 27,893 people under treatment and 1,42,854 under observation, of which 4,403 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.
Karnataka logged 4,553 fresh coronavirus cases and 15 deaths, taking the caseload and toll to 10,15,155 and 12,625 respectively. So far, 9,63,419 people were discharged cumulatively, including 2,060 in last twenty-four hours. There have been 39,092 active cases which includes 331 in the ICU.
The number of active coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh jumped over the 10,000 mark once again as 1,730 more people were infected with the disease, the highest in a day since 11 November last year.
Tamil Nadu reported 3,581 new Covid-19 cases taking the total infection tally to 8,99,807. Also, 14 deaths in the last 24 hours pushed the death toll to 12,778. The number of active cases touched 21,958. Meanwhile, 1,813 recoveries took the recovery total to 8,65,071.
Jammu and Kashmir recorded 573 fresh Covid-19 cases, including 105 travellers, taking the tally to 1,33,012, while three more deaths due to the virus raised the toll to 2,008. Of the fresh Covid-19 cases, 122 were from the Jammu division and 451 from the Kashmir division.
