Nearly 69 per cent of India's COVID-19 cases are limited to only eight states, Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary of Union Health Ministry said today.
The country has reported over 2,63,000 daily cases in the last 24 hours. There has been a decrease of 27% from the highest peak of single-day cases India noted on May 7 (4,14,000), Lav Agarwal said.
He also added that "country's weekly average case positivity rate is 16.9%." "Case positivity rate in India is 14.10% and more than 15% positivity rate in 22 states," he said.
Describing state and district officials as "field commanders" in the fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said localised containment zones, aggressive testing, and sharing correct and complete information with people are weapons to defeat the pandemic.
Interacting with them at a meeting, which was attended by district magistrates from 46 districts across nine states, through video-conferencing, PM Modi said they were free to innovate to suit their local requirements and asked them to share their feedback about any change in policy without any inhibition.
Asserting that vaccination is a strong way to fight COVID-19, PM Modi said myths about it have to be collectively rooted out.
He added that continuous efforts are being made to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine supply in a big way, asserting that attempts are on to provide states a 15-day advance schedule of the programme as it will allow them to prepare accordingly.
Testing, tracking, treatment, and COVID appropriate behaviour are some of the key things required to check the spread of the virus, PM Modi said.
Hailing officials, the prime minister said many of them worked despite being COVID-19 positive while some lost their family members but they gave duty foremost priority.
He said a lot of attention has to be paid to rural and remote areas during the second wave of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 death count climbed to 2,78,719 with a record 4,329 fresh fatalities, while the single-day rise in coronavirus cases stood at 2.63 lakh, the lowest in 28 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
The country reported 2,63,533 new cases in a span of 24 hours, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,52,28,996, the data updated at 8 am showed.
A total of 2,59,170 cases were reported in a span of 24 hours on April 20.
The active cases further reduced to 33,53,765 comprising 13.29 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 85.60 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Here are the Highlights on India Coronavirus (Covid-19 Cases) Cases:
The 64,60,624 beneficiaries include 10,10,263 from Rajasthan, 8,67,815 from Bihar, 7,69,590 from Delhi, 6,60,686 from Maharashtra, 6,38,790 from Uttar Pradesh, 5,46,468 from Haryana and 5,12,689 from Gujarat and 3,08,282 from Assam.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said the Delhi government will take care of the medical expenses of a Covid-positive doctor battling for life in a private hospital in Gurgaon.
"Our corona warriors are our strength and the Delhi government stands with them in these tough times," he said.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday claimed that the corona situation in the state is under control due to emphasis on vaccination and timely administrative measure of lockdown.
In the fight against the deadly virus, the administration decided to ramp up testing to 70,000 a day and add 368 more ICU beds for the treatment of critical patients.
"Vaccination should be the prime strategy to curb the COVId-19 situation," he said.
Jharkhand on Tuesday said it is moving towards becoming a medical oxygen surplus state and is gearing up to cater to the needs of other states, news agency PTI reported.
The state has constituted an oxygen task force to ensure uninterrupted supply of the life saving thing for patients.
Terming the second wave as "worrying" and "fatal", an official statement quoted the National Clinical Registry saying that issues related to breathing difficulties in the first wave was 41.7 per cent, which increased to 47.5 per cent in the second wave.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh dispatched consignments of face masks, sanitiser and other COVID-19-related materials for Jammu and Srinagar on Tuesday, according to an official statement, news agency PTI reported.
He said that similar consignments had been sent to the six districts of Jammu and Kashmir falling in his Udhampur parliamentary constituency earlier.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said the impact of the second wave of COVID- 19 has been "extremely severe" in the northeastern state for which medical infrastructure needs to be strengthened.
Through his social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, Mr Sarma appealed to the public to contribute generously to the Chief Ministers Relief Fund or the Assam Arogya Nidhi account to support the governments efforts in handling the pandemic.
"The impact of the second wave of COVID-19 has been extremely severe in Assam. Against this backdrop, there is a need to further strengthen the medical infrastructure in the state," a statement issued by the Office of the Chief Minister said.
The pandemic has been the "greatest health challenge" and it has caused untold suffering to humanity with many precious lives being lost, Mr Sarma said.
Maharashtra reported 28,438 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours while the state recorded 679 COVID-19 deaths in the same period.
52,898 Covid patients were discharged today while the recovery rate in the state stands at 90.69%.
Meanwhile, Mumbai's daily coronavirus case figure has dropped below the 1,000-mark after over 10 weeks. The Maharashtra capital, which had been ravaged by the dangerous second wave of Covid infections in April, on Tuesday logged just 953 cases, lowest since March 2. However, testing has sharply declined compared to the April levels.
Apart from that, thousands of labourers are also engaged separately in the laying of Rishikesh-Karanprayag rail line and the chardham all weather road project.
West Bengal reported 19,428 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours as positivity rate climbed to an all time high of 10.13%.
145 deaths have been reported in the state including 38 deaths in Kolkata and 36 in N24 Parganas.
Telangana on Tuesday reported 3,982COVID-19 cases taking the tally to over 5.36 lakh while the toll stood at 3,012 with 27 casualties, a senior Public Health Department official said.
G Srinivasa Rao, Director of Public Health, said the state currently has 48,110 active cases and the ongoing lockdown is yielding desired results.
A government bulletin saidGreater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 607, followed by Rangareddy (262) and Khammam (247).
The Central government has dispatched 11,325 oxygen concentrators, 15,801 oxygen cylinders, 19 oxygen generation plants, 8,526 ventilators/Bi-PAP, and about 6.1 lakhs Remdesivir vials to various states and union territories (UTs) which were received as foreign aid.
According to a press release, these supplies were dispatched between April 27 and May 17 this year.
"Effective immediate allocation, and streamlined delivery to the recipient states/UTs and institutions is an ongoing exercise. A dedicated Coordination Cell has been created in the Ministry to coordinate the receipt and allocation of foreign COVID relief material as international cooperation in the form of grants, aid and donations," the statement further added.
The Phase II/III clinical trials of Covaxin, indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, in the 2-18-year-olds will begin in the next 10-12 days, senior NITI Aayog member VK Paul announced Tuesday.
On May 13, India gave clearance for Covaxin trials on children aged between two years and 18 years.
"COVAXIN has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for Phase II/III clinical trials in the age group of 2 to 18 years. I have been told that trials will begin in the next 10-12 days," said Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, NITI Aayog.
The trial will take place in 525 subjects at various sites.
Delhi on Tuesday received over 60,000 Covaxin doses for key workers and those aged above 45, AAP MLA Atishi said.
Still, the city has only two days of Covaxin stock left for this category, while Covishield doses for the group can last up to four days, she said.
She also said that 1.13 lakh beneficiaries received jabs on May 17. Around 10.75 lakh people have got both the doses since the inoculation drive began on January 16.
The night curfew in 36 cities of Gujarat, including nine metros, has been extended by three more days to control the spread of coronavirus, the state government said on Monday.
As per the decision taken by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the limited restrictions, including the curfew between 8 pm and 6 am, will continue to be in place in 36 cities from Tuesday to Thursday, a government release said.
Restrictions currently in force in other parts of Gujarat except these 36 cities will also continue between 6 am on May 18 till 6 am on May 20, it said.
With Odisha continuing to report around 10,000 new COVID-19 cases daily, the state government on Tuesday extended the ongoing lockdown with stricter restrictions by two more weeks till on June 1.
Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra announced this a day before the completion of the tenure of the first phase of lockdown at 5 am on May 19.
The chief secretary said that the complete weekend shutdown on Saturdays and Sundays, when only hospitals and medical outlets are allowed to operate, will also continue as earlier.
Mohapatra said that some stricter measures will be taken in the second phase of the lockdown. During the first phase, people got six hours from 6 am daily to purchase essential items, but now the window was reduced to five hours.
Delhi reports 4482 new #COVID19 cases, 9403 recoveries and 265 deaths in the last 24 hours.
- ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2021
Total cases 14,02,873
Total recoveries 13,29,899
Death toll 22,111
Active cases 50,863 pic.twitter.com/nIYzNII6Qd
#WATCH | PM Modi interacts with field officials from States and Districts to converse about their experience in handling the #COVID19 pandemic https://t.co/lXjjXgNfnX
- ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2021
"I am going back to my home in Arrah (Bihar). The company is closed. For how many days we will stay hungry, so that is why I thought that I should go back. My mother is also in serious condition at home," says Ramji, migrant worker pic.twitter.com/QJygJu9jbK
- ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2021
#COVID19 | Ladakh reported 130 new positive cases and 134 recoveries on Monday.
- ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2021
Total positive cases: 16,582
Active cases: 1,542
Total deaths: 165 pic.twitter.com/vZ9Iz4U9qR
