India’s coronavirus cases hit 60k, fatalities exceed 2,000

Over 10,000 infections reported over three days; global tally crosses four million

NEW DELHI: The number of fatalities due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crossed 2,000 and total infections rose above 60,000 on Saturday, doubling in roughly 11 days, as the country prepares to resume more economic activity while bracing for a spike in infections because of increased movement.

According to data compiled from numbers released by state authorities, there were 3,172 new infections and 117 new deaths recorded on Saturday. In all, there have now been 62,715 people infected by the Sars-cov-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, and 2,025 fatalities. Roughly 19,165 people have recovered from the disease.

The highest number of cases continued to be detected from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Delhi, with the national capital reporting a lower-than-usual number as officials changed the classification of the 24-hour period.

According to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, India has now raised its testing capacity to 95,000 per day and a total 1,525,631 tests have been conducted so far across 332 government and 121 private laboratories.

“We do not anticipate a very worst type of situation in our country like many other developed countries but still we have prepared the whole country for the worst situation,” Harsh Vardhan said at meeting to review the status of Covid-19 outbreak in northeastern states.

The health minister said there are now 8,043 hospitals dedicated for Covid-19 patients with a total capacity of 1.67 million beds and the country was adequately prepared to handle a surge in cases.

Globally, the virus has now infected over 4 million people and claimed the lives of at least 277,000 people in what is the worst pandemic the world has seen since the Spanish Flu in 1918.

The health minister’s remarks came a day after a top government official said India now needs to learn to live with the virus. “We will have to learn to live with the virus, for which it is important to make critical behavioral changes and incorporate all the preventive guidelines that health ministry has been issuing on following hand hygiene, cough etiquettes and social distancing measures, as part of your daily routine. It is an everyday battle for us to keep the infection at bay,” said Lav Agarwal, health ministry joint secretary, in a briefing on Friday.

Authorities are now focusing on 10 states that account for the most number of cases. “The ministry of health and family welfare has decided to deploy central teams to 10 states that have witnessed/are witnessing high case load and high spurt of cases. The teams will assist state health departments of respective states to facilitate management of the outbreak,” the health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

The expert teams consist of a senior official from the health ministry, a joint secretary-level nodal officer, and a public health expert.

The states where the teams are being sent are Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

The outbreak in India began on March 2 and by the end of the month, the country was under a sweeping lockdown that helped avert a situation of the kind seen in several populous countries where tens of thousands have now died.

But pressure to relax the curbs is now growing, with large number of people having lost their livelihoods – especially those from lower economic groups such as factory workers and daily wage earners .