Beneficiaries at a vaccination center in Karave Gaon in Navi Mumbai on Monday. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus India Live Updates: India reported 32,906 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the lowest since March 16, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
The country’s active caseload has declined to 4.32 lakh. The recovery rate has increased to 97.28 per cent, the ministry data stated.
The health ministry said 2020 deaths were reported on Monday. Madhya Pradesh added 1,478 previously uncounted deaths to its tally. Maharashtra reported 148 deaths while Kerala had 100.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a virtual meeting with the Chief Ministers of the eight Northeastern states on Tuesday to discuss the Covid-19 situation in the region. More than three out of every five districts that reported a test positivity rate of more than 10 per cent over the past week are in the Northeast.
Data tracked by the Union Health Ministry show that of the 58 districts that reported a positivity rate higher than 10 per cent between July 5 and July 11, as many as 37 were from the Northeast.
While absolute numbers in the Northeast are small compared to the larger Indian states, the overall weekly positivity in India was only 2.21 per cent as of Sunday.
Delhi Police fly drone over crowded Sarojini Nagar market to check Covid rules, in New Delhi on Sunday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
As the Capital’s Covid count continues to dip — Delhi recorded 45 cases, the lowest in 15 months, on Monday — and with lockdown restrictions eased considerably, markets and public spaces across the city have drawn huge crowds, forcing authorities to crack down.
Over the past two weeks, at least nine markets, including Lajpat Nagar, Gaffar Market, Sadar Bazar and Laxmi Nagar, were forced to shut down for flouting social distancing and other Covid protocol, though they were subsequently reopened after assurances from market associations and other stakeholders.
While the government attempts to strike a balance between resuming economic activity and not risking another surge in cases, the caution is also linked to the fact that Delhi’s peaks have been far sharper than elsewhere — in April this year, the Capital recorded 28,395 cases in a single day, more than any other city.
With 45 cases, Delhi recorded the lowest number of Covid cases over 24 hours in nearly 15 months on Monday.
The city has been maintaining a positivity rate below 0.2% since June 23. While Monday saw the lowest number of positive cases in this stretch, the positivity rate on Sunday was actually lower at 0.07%. But because a lower number of tests were conducted in the last 24 hours since it was the weekend, Monday saw 45 cases with a positivity rate of 0.08%.
India reported 32,906 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, the lowest since March 16, according to data from the Union Health Ministry.
The country's active caseload has declined to 4.32 lakh. The recovery rate has increased to 97.28 per cent, the ministry data stated.
The health ministry said 2020 deaths were reported on Monday. Madhya Pradesh added 1,478 previously uncounted deaths to its tally. Maharashtra reported 148 deaths while Kerala had 100.
After the photos of crowds at hill stations without masks or social distancing, which prompted the Centre to issue an alert, the numbers are out.
Official figures show 35,425 tourists reached the outskirts of Nainital and 32,000 more travelled to Mussoorie in Uttarakhand over the last weekend as Covid figures dipped across the country.
Of these, 32,900 tourists were allowed to enter Nainital and 20,000 to Mussoorie while the rest were turned back on various grounds, ranging from not carrying a Covid-negative report or proof of hotel booking to failure to register on the state government-mandated portal.
Cautioning people from falling prey to “voices that demoralise our nation”, Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, on Monday said India “should have done much better” while handling the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
In his address to shareholders, Adani said, “We must admit that every life lost, is a tragedy.
Undoubtedly, our country should have done much better, especially during the deadly wave two. However, as nations of the world marshal their resources to fight the pandemic, I see India being targeted by several critics for not doing more to protect its citizens, especially in vaccination.”