Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday reviewed the Covid-19 situation in India following the spike in cases in a few states. The ongoing vaccination drive and the steps needed to check further spread of the virus were discussed in the meeting, which was attended by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and top officials of the two ministries.
Meanwhile, India’s coronavirus tally crossed 1.1 crore as it recorded 14,199 new Covid-19 infections on Monday. Current active cases have gone back over the 1.5 lakh mark for the first time in 17 days, registering the steepest increase since the end of November.
On 27 November the active caseload was 4,55,555—an increase of 3.85 per cent from the 4,38,667 recorded on 24 November.
This was the fifth consecutive day on which active cases (calculated as the difference between new cases and recoveries) increased; 13,506 new cases have been added in this period.
The three percent increase in active cases is also double that recorded this time last week—1.5 percent—and a massive 2.9 percent bigger than two weeks ago, when active cases decreased by 157.
The total number of new cases reported per day also increased—from a low of 9,121 on 16 February to 14,199 on Monday, with the seven-day moving average increasing by 13.8 percent.
Meanwhile, with 83 new fatalities, the country’s Covid death toll is over 1.56 lakh.
The spike in national numbers comes as five states—Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh—reported increased daily numbers. The Centre has warned all five states that continued “adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour” is critical to break the chain of transmission and contain the novel coronavirus.
“Over 74 percent of active cases are in Kerala and Maharashtra… there has also been a spike in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh… Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir are also witnessing a surge in daily new cases,” the Health Ministry said Sunday.
In Maharashtra, the worst-affected state, the seven-day moving average of new cases was 5,230 – the highest since 5,576 on December 2. On Monday morning, 6,971 new cases were reported in 24 hours, the most since October 24, when 7,347 had been detected.
Kerala registered 2,212 new cases of Covid-19 and 16 fatalities on Monday. A total of 5,037 patients recovered from the infection taking the active caseload to 55,468. The death toll climbed to 4,105. A total of 1,987 cases were reported to have been transmitted due to contact with those infected whereas the source of 169 cases could not be traced. The test positivity rate stood at 5.81 percent with 38,103 samples tested in the last 24 hours. This is the first time in over three months that the positivity rate has dipped below 6 percent.
No fresh Covid-19 death was recorded in Rajasthan on Monday and the death toll in the state stood at 2,785, according to a health department bulletin. The state reported 83 new cases which pushed the infection tally to 3,19,626. There are 1,206 active Covid-91 cases in the state. According to the bulletin, 3,15,635 people have been discharged after treatment till now.
On the other hand, a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases has set off alarm bells among health officials in Punjab. The daily cases of coronavirus have shot from over 350 to 3,000 in the last 48 hours in Punjab with Nawanshahr district the worst affected. The weekly positivity rate in the state has increased from 1.4 percent to 1.6 percent, while weekly cases in the last four weeks have seen a rise from 1,300 to 1,682.The government is planning to enforce strict social distancing guidelines and take note of health workers who avoid getting the vaccine.
Delhi recorded 128 Covid-19 cases and one fatality on Monday, even as the positivity rate stood at 0.30 percent, authorities reported. With the latest update in figures, authorities said, while the overall toll rose to 10,901, the number of cases went up to 6,38,028.
Authorities have cautioned against abandoning Covid-appropriate behaviour like using face masks and maintaining social distancing while in public, which they say are contributing to the spike.
India began its vaccination drive last month and around 1.07 crore people have received at least one shot (of the required two) each. Those vaccinated so far are healthcare and frontline workers.
The plan is to vaccinate around three crore healthcare and frontline workers in the first phase, followed by a critical mass of the population, in the hope that herd immunity can be achieved.