Covid cases surge further in country, Delhi worst-hit
India on Saturday witnessed a further surge in Covid-19 cases with a slight hike in the at 2,527. While the active cases further shot up to 15,079 and 1,656 people recovered during the past 24 hours.
The overall cumulative -19 cases went up to 4,30,54,952, though 4,25,17,724 of them recovered and 5,22,149 of died.
Delhi is the worst hit, which reported two Covid-19 deaths and with no deaths in any other part of the country. However, Kerala reported 31 deaths on the previous days but none on Saturday.
The national capital has been witnessing an unprecedented spike in daily Covid cases with 1,042 new cases reported in 24 hours, the highest since February 10 this year.
Meanwhile, Delhi's R-value, which indicates the spread of Covid-19, was recorded at 2.1 this week, implying that every infected person is infecting two others in the capital, according to an analysis by IIT-Madras.
The 'R' or reproductive value indicates the number of people an infected person can spread the disease to, and a pandemic is considered to end if this value goes below one.
PM to hold meet with CMs today
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold a meeting with chief
ministers on the Covid-19 situation in the country on Wednesday through video conference, sources said on Saturday. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan will make a presentation on the matter, they said.
Cases double in 10 days in Rajasthan
Covid cases are on the rise in Rajasthan where Jaipur has become the epicentre as 88 per cent of the total active cases are reported from the city. The state reported 34 new cases on Friday of which 31 were from Jaipur.
There were 72 active cases on April 12 in the state which have now increased to 141. Of these, 124 are from Jaipur. The rest of the districts have not shown any spurt in new
cases. The health department has decided to increase the number of daily RT-PCR tests and advised people to take precautions.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had reviewed the situation and directed the officials to strictly implement the use of masks and other Covid protocols. –Manish Godha
55 new cases in IIT Madras
As 55 new cases were reported at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan visited the state vaccination centre on Saturday and asserted that the situation is "under control".