Steep rise in COVID-19 cases as July arrives, says ministry
Kejriwal says virus situation in Delhi was improving; Mumbai police impose Section 144, which restricts crowding of people. TN surpasses China’s tally of infections
India has entered July and Unlock 2 with close to 600,000 COVID-19 cases.
A spike of 18,653 cases has taken the total cases to 5,85,493 as of Wednesday morning.
Tuesday was also the day that saw the highest number of deaths at 507; India’s COVID-19 death toll has hit 17,400.
Ministry of Health figures show that India piled up over 200,000 cases in the last 12 days of June. While cases were seen reducing in Maharashtra, there had been a rise in Delhi and Tamil Nadu as well as Telangana.
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka also joined high-growth states.
Over the last 24 hours, 2,199 new cases were reported in Delhi, taking the total to 87,360.
The number of fatalities has gone up to 2,742 with 62 more deaths reported in a single day. There are 26,270 active cases.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the coronavirus situation in the national capital was improving. “The number of active cases till June 30 remained way less than the predictions,” he told the media, adding however that the virus is unpredictable and there is no room for any complacency.
He added, “Situation is improving in Delhi in the last few days. However, there is no room for complacency. This virus is unpredictable. We must continue our efforts with more vigour.”
The Chief Minister, however, hinted that the situation predicted by his government a month ago did not turn out to be accurate.
“We had predicted that by June 30, there will be one lakh total cases and sixty thousand active cases, but now there are only 26,000 active cases, almost one-third. With the help of people, doctor, nurses, we have now controlled the situation,” he added.
Last month, he had projected an exponential growth in the city’scovid-19 cases.
“We would hit one lakh cases and would require 15,000 beds by June 30,” he had warned.
In Mumbai, the police on Wednesday imposed Section 144, which restricts crowding, to keep movement of people under check.
A notification said the movement of one or more people is prohibited.
National carrier Air India was readying for the fourth stage of repatriation called Vande Bharat, which begins on Friday. Indigo and Goair will also play a major role in the fourth phase.
“Private Airlines will have significant participation in Phase-4 of VBM. Among others, Indigo will operate 238 flights from Qatar & 219 flights from Kuwait; while Goair will operate 41 flights from Kuwait.
Number of pvt carriers, flights & destinations likely to increase,” the civil aviation ministry had said in an earlier tweet.
TN SURPASSES CHINA: Tamil Nadu has surpassed China’s tally of COVID-19 infections of 85,000 cases. As of Wednesday morning, the state has 90,617 infections, with the addition of 3,943 on Tuesday. Active cases stand at 38,889 and fatalities have risen by 60 to reach 1,201.
Tamil Nadu’s tally placed it third in the country, behind Maharashtra and Delhi.
The leap comes as the state enforced from Tuesday midnight a sixth phase of lockdown in six districts, extending virtually to July 31 though with some easing after July 5.
Chennai, Thiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpet, went into lockdown on June 19. Madurai and Theni were added later.
Over 200 priests of the renowned Lord Nataraja temple in Chidambaram, meanwhile, have been put under quarantine as two priests tested positive for COVID-19. The priests and their family members have been tested.
At the same time, after more than three months, temples in rural areas of Tamil Nadu allowed devotees, following a government order.
Offerings such as coconut, fruits and flowers shall not be allowed.
The public is not allowed to watch rituals in small temples, mosques, darghas, churches and other religious places.
Curbs continue in all districts for those above 65, those with comorbidities, pregnant women and children below the age of 10.
There will be a ‘complete lockdown’ across Tamil Nadu on the four Sundays, July 5, 12, 19 and 26. Inter-district public bus transport has been stopped till July 15.