Covid: India reports more than 10K fresh cases for second day in a row
1 min read . Updated: 15 Apr 2023, 10:48 AM IST
PremiumThe Union health ministry has directed states and union territories to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection
New Delhi: India reported 10,753 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, pushing up the active case tally to 53,720, the Union health ministry said in an update on Saturday. Positivity rate stands at 6.78%, with total reported cases so far at 44.9 million and death toll at 531,091.
Active cases now comprise 0.12% of total infections while the national recovery rate stands at 98.69%, as per the ministry.
According to epidemiologists, covid cases have been doubling every four to five days. Scientists have said that the XBB.1.16 variant of coronavirus is responsible for the current surge. But in a relief, the infection is supposed to be milder in nature and may not lead to a rise in hospitalisation rate as Indians have likely developed hybrid immunity due to vaccination and natural exposure to the disease. The Centre, however, has urged people to wear masks in crowded places and complete their vaccination doses.
The Union health ministry has directed states and union territories to follow a risk assessment-based approach to prevent and contain the infection. The ministry has advised state governments to examine the covid-19 situation at micro level (district and sub-districts) and maintain focus on implementation of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of covid-19 duly ensuring effective compliance.
“The five-fold strategy, i.e., Test-Track Treat-Vaccination should be followed with continued focus on adequate & proactive testing as per guidelines, monitoring new and emerging clusters of new Covid-19 cases along with monitoring the trend of Influenza-like illness (ILI) & SARI cases in all health facilities or through dedicated fever clinics on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection," the health ministry stated as there are few states which are reporting higher number of cases indicating possible localized spread of infection.
The trajectory of covid cases has increased gradually across the country, with Karnataka reporting 1,772 active cases, while Kerala has 18,663 active cases. Maharashtra has 5,928 active cases, Gujarat 2,087, Delhi has 4,311 cases, Tamil Nadu has 2,876 active cases, Himachal Pradesh 2,144, and Uttar Pradesh has reported 2,579 cases.
Around 1.58 lakh tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
Under the covid vaccination drive, more than 220.66 crore vaccine doses have been administered to the people across the country so far. In the last 24 hours, around 397 vaccine doses were administered.