India sees highest daily rise in nearly 2 months
New Delhi: India's daily Covid numbers jumped by over four per cent as the country reported 46,759 new cases on Saturday, the most in nearly two months, as cases surge in Kerala. 509 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours, according to the government.
Ahead of the festival season, the Centre on Saturday asked all states and Union Territories to ensure there are no large gatherings and that they take proactive measures to check the spread of the virus.
India's infection tally rose to 3,26,49,947 on Saturday, while the count of active cases registered an increase for the fourth consecutive day, according to Union Health ministry data.
The death toll has climbed to 4,37,370 with 509 more fatalities being recorded, according to the data updated at 8 am.
The number of active cases has now increased to 3,59,775 which comprises 1.10 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.56 per cent, the ministry said.
An increase of 14,876 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The count of daily new cases has stayed below 50,000 for 62 consecutive days now, the ministry said.
Also, 17,61,110 Coronavirus tests were conducted in the country on Friday, taking the cumulative number of such examinations done so far to 51,68,87,602.
The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 63 crore, the ministry said on Saturday.
Over 65 lakh doses were administered on Saturday, according to the 7 pm provisional report.
Extending the ongoing COVID-19 guidelines for one more month till September 30, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said the overall pandemic situation now appears to be largely stable at the national level, except for the localised spread observed in a few states.
The total number of active cases and high case positivity in some districts continue to remain a matter of concern, he told the Chief Secretaries of all states and UTs in identical letters. "The state governments and UT administrations concerned, having high positivity in their districts, should take proactive containment measures so as to effectively arrest the spike in cases and to contain the spread of transmission.
"It is important to identify warning signs of potential surges early on and to take appropriate measures to curb the spread. This would require a localised approach, as has been mentioned in Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) advisories dated April 25 and June 28," he said.
The Home Secretary further advised them to take suitable measures to avoid large gatherings during the coming festive season and, if required, impose local restrictions to prevent such gatherings.
A number of major festivals, including Diwali and Chhath, will be celebrated in the coming months.
Covid-appropriate behaviour should be strictly enforced at all crowded places, he said. There is a need to continue focus on the five-fold strategy — test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to COVID-appropriate behaviour — for an effective management of COVID-19, the Home Secretary added.
Adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour is essential for tackling the pandemic on a sustained basis, he said, adding that weekly data from states and UTs regarding wearing of facemask, maintaining social distancing, imposition of fines etc indicates a downward trend in enforcement. "States and UTs are requested to augment their enforcement efforts for effectively checking transmission of the disease," he said.
