Covid situation ‘very optimistic’ in India but these 4 states still have over 50,000 active cases: Govt
Premium- Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog says the world still does not know much about this deadly virus so vigilance must go on
Amid a significant decline in Covid-19 cases across the country, Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, Niti Aayog, today said that the overall Covid-19 situation is “very optimistic". However, some states are still reporting a large number of Covid-19 cases, he added.
“Overall COVID-19 situation is very optimistic. However, some states including Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal are still reporting a large number of cases. We cannot lower our guard," he said during a press briefing.
He also said the world still does not know much about this deadly virus so vigilance must go on.
Dr Paul said India has learnt a great deal about the pandemic and the Covid-19 virus but the world still doesn't know everything about it. “The world should remain united to fight this virus and should continue to use the tools that are at our disposal," he added.
During the presser, Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry also said that India's daily positivity rate has come down to 4.44 per cent from 20.75 per cent on January 24, showing a reduction in the rate of spread in India.
As per the health ministry's latest data, four states -- Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka -- have more than 50,000 active cases of COVID-19, and 11 states have active cases between 10,000 and 50,000.
Amid a consistent fall in fresh Covid-19 infections, the Health Ministry data shows India's daily Covid-19 cases rose by 67,084 in the last 24 hours, while the death toll climbed to 506,520 with 1,241 fresh fatalities.
With this, the country's active caseload currently stands at 7,90,789, which accounts for 1.86 per cent of total cases. The daily positivity rate in India has been recorded at 4.44 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 6.58 per cent.
Meanwhile, India crossed the grim milestone of 5 lakh Covid-19 deaths on Thursday, becoming the third country in the world to do so after the US and Brazil. The country took 217 days to reach 5 lakh deaths from 4 lakh recorded on July 1 last year, the longest time taken to record 1 lakh fatalities. India was hit by a devastating second wave in April-May last year.
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