20,000,000 cases and counting
NEW DELHI: India’s recordbreaking second wave of Covid-19 infections pushed total cases in the country just shy of 20 million on Monday, as the massive surge in the outbreak continued to overwhelm hospitals and doctors throughout the country.
India registered 368,147 new infections on Friday, to take its total tally of infections to 19.93 million. This was the 12th straight day that the country recorded more than 300,000 new coronavirus infections, as scientists predicted a peak in the pandemic in the coming days.
The country also reported 3,417 fatalities in the last 24 hours to take the death toll to 218,959, the health ministry said, as the relentless expansion of the outbreak continued to spark shortages of hospital beds and other crucial supplies such as oxygen and medicines.
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and
Delhi are among 10 states that account for nearly 74% of the new Covid-19 cases registered in a day. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are the other states on the list of 10.
Ten states account for 74.54% of the new deaths. Maharashtra saw the maximum casualties (669) followed by Delhi (407) and Uttar Pradesh with 288 daily deaths.
Meanwhile, active cases in the country inched close to the 3.5 million mark – as on Monday, there were 3,413,642 such cases in the country, the highest-ever recorded since the start of the outbreak in March last year.
Active cases is a crucial metric representing the country’s battle against the viral disease because it directly reflects the pressure on the health care system in a region and shows the number of people who are currently carrying the disease. As such, the higher the active cases, the more duress the health care system faces, which may lead to higher daily deaths if the former is not brought under control.
The metric is even more crucial in current circumstances because the country’s health care system is being weighed down by regions with high caseloads such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, many of which have been reporting not only shortage of supplies such as oxygen tanks, but are also running out of ICU beds, and even space in morgues and funeral homes.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar and Haryana cumulatively account for over 81% of India’s total active cases.
India’s daily positivity rate has increased to 21.19%, the ministry said on Monday.
Meanwhile, a mathematical model from a team of scientists advising the government indicated that the coronavirus cases may peak between May 3-5, few days earlier than a previous estimate as the virus has spread faster than expected.