In the national capital, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is expected to hold a press conference around noon. Authorities in the city-state have made it mandatory for all residents returning from the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar to stay in home quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival.
Meanwhile, as Covid-19 cases continued to spiral, the April session of JEE Main was postponed.
India recorded 261,500 new Covid-19 cases — a new record — and 1,501 deaths in the past 24 hours, the government said on Sunday. It was the fourth consecutive day that the country recorded over 2 lakh cases.
India has recorded 1,47,88,109 active cases since the beginning of the outbreak last year, while active cases stand at 18,01,316. The death toll from the viral infection is 177,150, and the total recoveries are 1,28,09643.
Meanwhile, Delhi on Saturday recorded the biggest jump in its daily COVID-19 tally with 24,375 fresh cases, and 167 people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate also shot up to 24.56 per cent — meaning every fourth sample being tested in the city is turning out to be positive. A day ago, 19,486 COVID-19 cases and 141 related deaths were reported in the city.
Amid escalating coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the pandemic situation in the city has become “very serious and worrisome”, with oxygen stock, and Remdesivir and Tocilizumab drugs for patients in short supply. He said the number of beds are also running out fast and the Delhi government is trying to escalate beds on a large scale in the coming days.’
On the other hand, Maharashtra logged 67,123 coronavirus cases on Saturday in its biggest single-day spike since the start of the pandemic. In the last 24 hours, 419 deaths were reported.
The total coronavirus cases in the state today climbed to 37,70,707 out of which 30,61,174 patients have recovered. 56,783 people were discharged in the last 24 hours, the government statement read.
On Saturday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to review the preparedness of public health response to Covid-19 as cases continue to spike at an alarming rate across the country. PM Modi said that all necessary measures must be taken to ramp up the availability of hospital beds for Covid patients. He reiterated the need for testing, tracking and treatment to tackle the current situation.
In the meeting attended by top officials of ministries and state governments, Modi emphasised on the need for the local administrations to be proactive and sensitive to people’s concerns. He also reviewed the status of supply of Remdesivir and other medicines.
All Delhi residents returning from the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar will have to mandatorily stay in home quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival, authorities in the national capital have decided.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority’s (DDMA) order — dated April 17 — came on the day the city recorded a massive jump in its daily Covid-19 tally with 24,375 fresh cases. On Saturday, 167 deaths were reported due to the viral infection in the last 24 hours.
The positivity rate (the percentage of people testing positive among those tested) shot up to 24.56%. It meant that every fourth sample tested in the city was turning out to be positive, underlining the grim situation in the capital.
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