‘Active cases’ touch 11 lakhs; 1.52L more in 1 day; 839 die
■ More states impose curbs ■ Maha undecided on lockdown
Hitting another record daily high of 1,52,879 new coronavirus infections, India’s Covid-19 tally of cases on Sunday climbed to 1,33,58,805, while the active cases breached the 11-lakh mark for the first time since the pandemic broke out last year. The country has been clocking in over one lakh cases for five days. The death toll also rose to 1,69,275, with 839 new fatalities in the last 24 hours, the highest since October 18, 2020.
With 10,732 fresh infections, national capital Delhi also broke all records in the number of Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour span. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to remove all age restrictions on Covid-19 vaccinations, even as his government flagged the vaccine shortage and said that stocks for just seven to 10 days were left now.
Mr Kejriwal said the surge in Covid-19 cases this time was “worse” than what Delhi saw during the third peak. This is the fourth wave in Delhi which is “much more dangerous”, he added.
A day after announcing several new restrictions to check the spread of the deadly virus, the chief minister also said a full lockdown was not the solution to tackle the pandemic.
The Union government has, meanwhile, written to Maharashtra, Punjab and Chhattisgarh over reports by the Central health teams on Covid-19 testing and containment operations, hospital infrastructure and vaccinations to contain the virus’ spread. Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in the letter, asked the states/UTs to take suitable corrective measures. The letter said: “The Union health ministry has been actively engaging with states in coordinating and collaborating on preparedness and the response to Covid-19.”
Mr Bhushan said the
Centre has also taken note of issues related to the availability of vaccines and required action to augment supplies will be taken based on the available stock. He said a brief summary of the key performance indicators related to testing, hospital infrastructure and vaccination, as reported by the teams, was shared for suitable corrective actions by the state or district administrations. He said 30 Central teams have been deployed for the most-affected districts in Maharashtra.
While the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 10 crores, things are getting bad from worse in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala, which cumulatively have 70.82 per cent of the total cases. Maharashtra alone has 48.57 per cent of the country’s total active caseload.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases, at 55,411. It is followed by Chhattisgarh, with 14,098, while Uttar Pradesh has reported 12,748 new cases. Sixteen states -- Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab and Kerala -- are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.
The Maharashtra government is to decide soon on whether to go in for another lockdown in the state. The government is said to be considering an eight-day lockdown while experts want it for a period of two weeks.
In Himachal Pradesh, the government made it mandatory for all people coming from seven states that have seen a spike in coronavirus cases to show a Covid-19 negative test report on entering the state. Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said people coming from Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh need to carry a negative RT-PCR report not earlier than 72 hours while visiting Himachal Pradesh from April 16.
The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered the closure of all schools till April 30 and directed the imposition of a night curfew in all districts that report 100 new infections in a day or have 500 active cases. The state government also ordered that not more than 100 people be allowed to assemble at an open space for an event, while the number was put at 50 for closed spaces. The fresh government directives have come on a day the state reported its highest single-day spike of 15,353 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Asserting that the “Tika Utsav”, a four-day vaccination drive, marks the beginning of the second big war on Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made several suggestions to people on tackling the virus and urged them to focus on personal and social hygiene. In a statement, he urged people to keep four things in mind, including “each one, vaccinate one”, “each one, treat one” and “each one, save one”.
Mr Modi said elderly people or those who may not be well educated must be helped to get the vaccine and asked people to help those patients to get treatment who may lack resources or information.