India logs 700 cases, 12 deaths

Toll at 91 on 11th day of lockdown; 22,000 TJ members quarantined: Centre

On Saturday, the 11th day of the nationwide lockdown, the number of coronavirus positive cases crossed the 3,000-mark with around 700 people testing positive and 12 patients succumbing to

Covid-19 related complications in 24 hours, the highest in India in a single day.

The total coronavirus related deaths in India now stand at 91 as per

covid19india.org, a crowd sourced website updating the toll frequently.

The Union health ministry said on Saturday that the total number of confirmed cases coronavirus cases are 3,072, including 57 foreign nationals.

Officials, however, assured citizens that there is no need to panic as the rate of spread is less than it is in many other countries and that just “one place”, the Tablighi Jamaat, accounts for 30 per cent of India’s total positive cases.

Union home ministry said that nearly 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have been quarantined across the country till now.

Punya Salila Srivastava, joint secretary in the Union home ministry, said that the government undertook massive efforts in coordinating with states to trace the Jamaat members and their contacts to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Of the total positive cases, 1,023 confirmed cases of infection have been found to be linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the national capital last month.

Maharashtra (490), Delhi (445), Tamil Nadu

(411), Kerala (295) and Rajasthan (200) remain the states with the highest number of positive cases.

“Fifty-eight patients in the country, mostly from Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, are currently in critical condition,” Union health ministry’s joint secretary Lav Agarwal said, adding that most of the patients who have died so far were old and had co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, kidney or cardiac issues.

But, contrary to the general believe that the elderly are at higher risk of infection, government data revealed that the maximum Covid-19 patients, almost 42 per cent, are in the 21-40 age bracket. “Thirty-three per cent patients are of 41-60 years, 17 per cent are above 60 years and 9 per cent patients are in the 020 age bracket,” Mr Agarwal said.