Covid-19: In 9 days, June cases at 50% of May count

NEW DELHI: Covid-19 cases in India were poised to cross 2.75 lakh on Tuesday, with the actual numbers remaining unclear as the Delhi government had not released the day’s data for the capital till past midnight. In the first nine days of June, fresh Covid-19 cases as well as deaths from the virus were already more than 50% of the corresponding figures in the whole of last month.
June had so far seen nearly 84,000 new Covid-19 cases in the country whereas 1.5 lakh infections were reported in May. Likewise, more than 2,300 deaths had been reported thus far in June.
In May, 4,251 fatalities were recorded. With Delhi’s count not having been released, 8,806 new Covid-19 cases were reported from the rest of the country, taking the overall count of infections to 2,74,748, as per data from state governments and the health ministry’s count of unassigned cases.
In keeping with the trend of the past many weeks, Maharashtra reported the highest number of fresh infections in the country at 2,259, although the number had dipped from over 2,500 reported on Monday. At 1,015, new cases reported from Mumbai also declined.
However, infections continued to rise in Tamil Nadu, which reported its highest single-day count of 1,685. At least three other states, Rajasthan (369 new cases), Andhra Pradesh (216) and Mizoram (46) saw their biggest surge in infections on Tuesday.
With Tuesday’s cases, Maharashtra’s total caseload crossed 90,000, accounting for a little less than a third of all cases in the country. While there was a slight dip in the number of new cases, deaths from the virus remained high, with the state re porting 120 fatalities on Tuesday. Overall, 243 deaths were reported from across the country.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s health minister C Vijayabaskar said Covid-19 cases were “spreading at lightning speed across the state” and promised 1,100 more hospital beds in worst-hit Chennai. TN’s cases touched 34,914. The state is expected to see 1.3 lakh cases by the month-end, according to projections by various agencies including the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical Universities.
Rajasthan too recorded its highest single-day spike of 369 cases in the last 24 hours. With these new cases, the state’s Covid-19 count has risen to 11,245. The state reported nine fatalities.
Gujarat crossed 1,300 deaths on Tuesday with 33 deaths in 24 hours taking the death toll to 1,313. Last four days have witnessed 123 deaths in Gujarat, giving the death rate of 6.4%.