Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: Delhi’s Covid-19 positivity rate on Monday jumped to 7.72 per cent even as the city recorded 501 fresh cases, 16 less than the previous day.
The Delhi government has sent samples from across the National Capital Region (NCR) for genome sequencing to verify if any new variant is behind the fresh surge, government sources said, adding the results are likely to come in a week.
With 1,247 coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,45,527, while the active cases increased to 11,860, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll climbed to 5,21,966 with one fresh fatality being reported from Uttar Pradesh, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 318 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The uptake of precaution doses or third dose is expected to rise from next month when more people are likely to become eligible after completing a nine-month gap following the second dose of Covid vaccine, a senior official told Times of India. The government is aiming the majority of the adults will be covered with the boosters within a year, the official added.
Since January 10, 2.5 crore booster shots have been administered to health and frontline workers. The report said that over 20 crore unutilised doses of vaccines are still available with states and Union Territories.
After the government allowed precaution dose for adults above 18 years at private vaccination from April 10, only 1.8 lakh adults in the 18-59 age group have taken the third dose, since not many people are eligible for the dose.
The Centre has asked Kerala to provide updated COVID-19 data daily and noted that the state reporting figures after a gap of five days has skewed India’s key pandemic monitoring indicators such as cases, deaths and positivity rate. Daily and diligent reporting of data is critical to arrive at a meaningful understanding of the pandemic situation and will help not only in tracking and monitoring but also in defining the strategies and plans at the Centre, state and district levels, Join Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said in a letter to Kerala’s Principal Secretary of Health Rajan N Khobragade.
“It has been observed that Kerala has reported its state-level COVID-19 data after a gap of five days (since April 13). This has impacted and skewed the status of India’s key monitoring indicators like cases, deaths and positivity. India has reported a 90 per cent increase in new cases and 165 per cent increase in positivity in a single day,” Agarwal said. The Union Health Ministry has regularly emphasized the need for a robust reporting mechanism of state-wise cases and deaths on a daily basis, the letter stated.
Kerala reported 213 deaths in a span of 24 hours, out of which one death was reported on April 17 while 62 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court and remaining 150 deaths were reported from April 13 to 16, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Delhi’s Coronavirus Test Positivity Rate Jumped to 7.72%
Delhi’s Covid-19 positivity rate jumped to 7.72 percent even as the city recorded 501 fresh cases, 16 less than the previous day. Officials said that last time the positivity rate was above seven per cent in the city on January 29 (7.4 per cent) and on January 28 (8.6 per cent). Barring Sunday, Delhi has been witnessing an upward trend in daily Covid-19 cases positivity rate in the last few days. Despite less tests the positivity rate in the city on Monday rose to 7.72 percent. The national capital on Sunday recorded a 4.21 per cent positivity rate.
17 New Covid Cases in Bengal, No Fatality
On a day when the country witnessed a jump of around 90 per cent in daily Covid-19 cases, the scenario in Bengal continued to improve with only 17 new cases were detected in the last 24 hours. The case load was now 20,17,823. There were no deaths due to the disease and the toll remained at 21,200. There were 38 recoveries pushing the number of such people to 19,96,333.
Noida Cops Hit Ground Asking People to Wear Face Masks Amid Covid-19 Spike
With the UP government making wearing of masks mandatory in public places in NCR districts due to rise in COVID-19 cases, the Gautam Buddh Nagar police on Monday started an awareness campaign to ensure everyone had their faces covered. Police Commissioner Alok Singh directed officials and asked them to use public address systems for asking people to wear face masks, according to an official statement. “Due to the increasing coronavirus infection, all the officers, ACPs and police station in-charges of the Commissariat are making announcements through the PA system regarding the guidelines and protocols related to COVID-19 in their areas,” the statement read.
Over 186.7 Crore Covid Vaccine Doses Administered in India: Govt
Over 21,500 precaution doses of Covid-19 vaccines were administered to beneficiaries aged 18-59 years till 7 pm on Monday, taking the total number of such doses given in this age group to 1,84,314, according to the Union health ministry. The cumulative number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 186.7 crore, with more than 15 lakh doses administered till 7 pm on Monday, the ministry said, adding that the daily vaccination tally is expected to go up with the compilation of the final reports by late night.
Maha. Sees 59 New Covid-19 Cases, No Death; 71 Recoveries Take Active Tally to 634
Maharashtra on Monday recorded 59 new Covid-19 cases, taking its tally to 78,75,904, while the death toll remained unchanged for the third consecutive day at 1,47,827, a health department official said. The fresh addition to the overall statewide coronavirus tally was much lower than 127 reported on Sunday, he pointed out. The discharge of 71 people in the last 24 hours took the recovery count to 77,27,443, leaving the state with 634 active cases, he said. Mumbai added 34 cases during the day, accounting for more than half of the new tally.
Daily Covid-19 Cases Nearly Double in 24 Hours
India’s tally of daily COVID-19 cases nearly doubled in the past 24 hours to more than 2,000, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The country logged 2,183 new coronavirus infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,30,44,280, while the active cases declined to 11,542, the data updated at 8am stated. On Sunday, 1,150 people tested positive for the viral infection across the country. The death toll climbed to 5,21,965 with 214 fresh fatalities, including 213 from Kerala, the data showed. Of 213 deaths recorded by Kerala, one death was reported on April 17 while 62 were designated as COVID-19 fatalities after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, and remaining 150 deaths were reported from April 13 to 16, according to the ministry.
19 Kids Among 65 New Covid-19 Cases in Noida
Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district, adjoining Delhi, reported 65 new Covid-19 cases including 19 children on Monday. The number of active cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar has reached 332, with children constituting around 100 cases. According to the official figures, 65 more people have tested positive for the infection since Sunday 6 am while 13 patients have got cured during the period. Of the 65 new cases, 19 are children below 18 years of age who have tested positive for COVID-19, Chief Medical Officer Dr Sunil Kumar Sharma said.
No Need for Alarm as Hospitalisations Low, Says Satyendar Jain on Covid Situation in Delhi
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said though the number of COVID-19 cases is rising in the national capital, it is not an alarming situation as the rate of hospitalisation is low. He said the government is keeping a watch on the situation. He also underlined that it is necessary to wear face masks, even though the fine for not doing so had been withdrawn. A crucial meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Wednesday is expected to consider the reimposition of fine for not wearing face masks. “The number of positive cases has been rising in Delhi. But we have carried out 100 per cent vaccination and a large number of residents have already been infected with the (corona)virus. Also, there are not a lot of hospitalisations. So, it is not an alarming situation. We are keeping a watch on the situation,” Jain said in a briefing.
Covid Cases up as Many Have Abandoned Masks
Even as the Covid cases are surging in Delhi, doctors said that most patients are coming to hospitals with fever, cough, sore throat and body ache. However, almost everyone is recovering within 3-5 days after getting the symptoms, they added. “I don’t think this is a separate wave. The numbers are going up because people aren’t masking anymore; this was expected. The symptoms that we are currently seeing in patients are similar to what was seen in the surge in January — fever, sore throat, cough, headache and body ache — and they are getting better in two or three days,” Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior consultant of respiratory medicine at Indraprastha Apollo hospital stated.
Delhi’s Positivity Rate Saw Nearly Three-fold Surge in a Week
Delhi has been witnessing a spurt in new infections with the positivity rate registering a nearly three-fold rise between April 11-18, according to city health department data. On April 11, the positivity rate stood at 2.70 percent which jumped to 3.95 percent on April 15 followed by 5.33 percent on April 16 and 7.72 percent on April 18, according to the data. Last week, Delhi recorded a total of 2,606 positive Covid cases against 67,360 tests conducted during the period while the average positive rate was 4.79 percent.
China reported seven new deaths from Covid-19 in Shanghai on Tuesday, raising the official toll after hundreds of thousands of cases in the metropolis during a weeks-long lockdown. City authorities revealed the first virus deaths on Monday, with Tuesday’s fatalities bringing the total official toll to just 10, despite the scale of the outbreak. Beijing insists its zero-Covid policy of hard lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines has averted fatalities and the public health crises that have engulfed much of the rest of the world.