Despite various measures being taken, the spread of the COVID-19 infection has not been able to contain yet in many states and union territories. With each passing day the cases of COVID-19 are skyrocketting. Owing to such a massive surge in cases, the Union Health Ministry has expressed urgent need for states to consider strict COVID management and to work on control measures in surge areas to bring situation under control in areas reporting higher cases.
It said that existing infrastructure may not be able to cope with this kind of surge.
Maharashtra, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and few more states have imposed strict curfews, lockdown like curbs to curb the spread of virus. Although, the count of cases haven't seen a dip.
Meanwhile, The Centre liberalised the coronavirus vaccination strategy to allow states, private hospitals and industrial establishments following requests from nearly all states and to unleash the "combined effort of Team India" to inoculate every adult in the earliest possible time, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday.
In a four-page statement posted on his Twitter handle, the minister defended the new strategy under which everyone above 18 years of age will be vaccinated against COVID-19 from May 1 and hit out at those political leaders indulging in "needless politics" on the matter and spreading misinformation.
India logged a record 3,49,691 new coronavirus infections in a day taking it total tally of COVID-19 cases to 1,69,60,172, while active cases crossed the 26-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
The death toll increased to 1,92,311 with a record 2,767 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 26,82,751 comprising 15.82 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 83.05 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,40,85,110, while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.13 per cent, the data stated.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19. According to the ICMR, 27,79,18,810 samples have been tested up to April 25 with 17,19,588 samples being tested on Saturday.
