With 3,861 new cases, Covid count crosses 46,000-mark
Maha and TN account for more than half the new cases; number of deaths in a single day in triple digits
NEWDELHI: The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in India grew by 3,861 on Monday, a fresh record for new cases that pushed the nationwide tally of confirmed infections across the country to over 46,000. For the first time, the number of deaths in a single day was in the triple digits as 101 new fatalities took the total toll to 1,494.
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu together accounted for more than half of the new cases recorded on Monday, logging 1,567 and 527 fresh infections respectively. In both these regions, the tally in the past 24 hours was nearly double of what had been seen in the two days before.
The spike in infections and fatalities came on a day when much of the country entered a new phase in the crisis with curbs easing significantly for the first time since the nationwide shutdown came into force on March 25 to slow the spread of the disease.
“We are transitioning into a new normal and we need to be aware and vigilant... Everyone must strictly follow social distancing practices even outside the containment zones,” said Union health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal at the government’s daily briefing on the Covid-19 crisis.
National capital Delhi recorded 349 new infections but no new deaths, while West Bengal – where single-day increases were in the double digits till Sunday – registered a jump in tally by 337 cases.
Officials in Bengal said the count included an unspecified number of cases that had been left out, an admission that comes amid allegations from federal authorities that the state was underplaying the scale of the crisis.
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi and West Bengal were the five top states in terms of new infections.
But, in what he described as an improvement, Agarwal said that a record number – 1,074 – people recovered from the disease in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday. The outcome ratio of Covid-19 -- the ratio of recoveries and deaths -- was now at 90:10. The outcome ratio on April 17 was 80:20 and the new ratio can be seen as an improvement, Agarwal said.
According to the official, around 27.5% people have recovered so far from the disease.
While the increase in numbers are largely being driven by the top five states and their urban centres, several smaller states and union territories – such as Goa, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Meghalaya, Assam, Aruranchal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Manipur, Mizoram, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Tripura -- have logged nil or few cases in recent days.
Kerala is the only state with a mid-to-large sized population that recorded no new cases for the second consecutive day, underscoring the success of its containment efforts.
Kerala has become one of the safest and secured industrial investment centers in the world after handking the Covid-19 crisis effectively, said the state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday that the success of the state’s health care system had made it “one the safest and most secured industrial investment centres in the world.” “We are getting a lot of inquiries from investors and entrepreneurs from around the world who is interested in Kerala. Our strength is the manpower here and we have once again proved that our human resources are comparable to any developed nation in the world,” he said.