New Delhi: The Centre said that even though the COVID-19 pandemic is stabilising in large parts of the country, there is still a long way to go to battle this particular wave as the positivity rate is still over 10 per cent in 382 districts.
Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said India was able to come this far in controlling this pandemic through restrictions on social and economic activities and containment and care measures.
"In large parts of the country, the pandemic is stabilising, the positivity rate and active cases are reducing and recovery rate is rising. It is also being seen that an increase is being seen in other states so this is a mixed picture but overall there has been a decrease in case burden but we have a long way to go to handle this wave and we also have to ensure that there should be no laxity in the steps we take," he said.
"As the situation improves we need to keep ensuring that the chain of transmission remains broken. In 382 districts, the positivity rate is over 10 per cent so there is still a long way to go to battle this particular wave," he said.
The daily rise in Coronavirus cases in India remained below the 3 lakh-mark for the sixth consecutive day, with 2.57 lakh new cases recorded in a single day. With the fresh cases, India's tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,62,89,290. The death toll due to the disease rose to 2,95,525 with 4,194 fresh fatalities. The active cases further reduced to 29,23,400 comprising 11.12 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate improved to 87.76 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease in the country surged to 2,30,70,365, while the case fatality rate stood at 1.12 per cent.
During the briefing, joint secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said that eight states have more than 1 lakh active cases while 18 states have over 15 per cent positivity rate. Agarwal said a continuous decline in the COVID-19 active cases has been noted in the last 20 days.
"From 17.13 per cent reported on May 3, the active cases now comprise 11.12 per cent of the country's total infections. A positive trend in the recovery has also been noted. The recovery rate which was 81.7 per cent on May 3 has increased to 87.76 per cent now," he said.
Also, the daily recoveries outnumbered daily new cases for ninth consecutive day, he added.
Agarwal said despite consistent increase in daily tests, India's daily positivity rate has declined from 24.83 per cent recorded on May 10 to 12.45 per cent on May 22.
"Also, a slow but relatively better trend in terms of management is being noted in deaths and most fatalities have been noted in six states —Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, UP, Punjab, Delhi," he said.
Agarwal said districts reporting week-on-week increase in tests and decline in case positivity has increased from 210 to 303 districts.
"Eight states have more than one lakh active cases and 18 states have more than 15 per cent positivity rate," he said.
Talking about vaccine wastage he said, Covishield vaccine wastage reduced from 8 per cent in March 1 to one per cent now while Covaxin wastage decreased from 17 per cent to 4 per cent in the same period.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 32,64,84,155 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to May 21 with record 20,66,285 samples tested on Friday.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu government on Saturday said that the ongoing lockdown, slated to end on May 24, will continue for another week in the state. The Uttar Pradesh government also extended partial corona curfew till 7 AM May 31.