Goa reported its first COVID-19 fatality on Monday as the countrywide death toll from the disease jumped by a record 445 while Delhi surpassed Tamil Nadu to become the second worst-hit state though authorities said the situation in the national capital was getting stabilised gradually.
As the coronavirus cases surged by over 10,000 for the 11th day in a row and rose by 14,821 to take the total to 425,282, the Centre maintained that the number of infections per lakh population was among the lowest in the world.
An 85-year-old man succumbed to coronavirus in Goa on Monday, making it the first death due to the disease in the state, said Health Minister Vishwajit Rane. Goa has reported 818 infections out of which 683 are active cases. The first three cases were reported in a single day on March 25.
According to the Union Health Ministry data, the country’s COVID-19 death toll rose to 13,699 with the 445 new fatalities.
In its update, the ministry said the total number of recoveries stood at 2,37,195 to clock a recovery rate of 55.77 per cent. Presently, there are 1,74,387 active cases and all are under medical supervision, it said.
“The difference between the recovered patients and the active COVID-19 cases continues to widen. The number of recovered patients has crossed the number of active patients by 62,808,” it added.
With over 59,000 COVID-19 cases, Delhi has now surpassed Tamil Nadu to become the second worst affected state after Maharashtra.
Even by death count till Sunday, which stood at 2,175, Delhi is in the second spot among the list of worst-hit states.
Delhi recorded 3,000 fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the tally in the city to 59,746, authorities said.
According to the central data, the tally for Tamil Nadu stood at 59,377, the third-highest in the country, just after Delhi while the number of fatalities was 757.
Maharashtra is the worst-hit state with a total of 1,32,075 cases and 6,170 deaths, according to the ministry data.
With Mumbai recording 66,488 cases till June 21, Delhi is likely to eclipse the city in the next few days.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told an online media briefing that in the last one week, there was a rise of only 1,000 active coronavirus cases, which indicates that the COVID-19 situation is slowly getting stabilised in the city.
From June 15 to 21, Delhi reported 18,564 coronavirus cases. However, 16,790 people also recovered in the said period.
Kejriwal also said his government will give pulse oximeters to the COVID-19 patients under home isolation and said the number of tests has increased by three times. The oximeters are to be returned after the patient’s recovery.
Pulse oximetry is a noninvasive method for monitoring a person’s oxygen saturation which is an essential element in the management and understanding of patient care.
The chief minister said till now, Delhi did not require beds for COVID-19 patients on a large scale as most of them recovered from the disease, adding the number of serious patients is also less.
The Union Health Ministry said India’s COVID-19 cases per lakh people is one of the lowest in the world despite its high population density, and the recovery rate has now reached almost 56 per cent.
For every one lakh population, there are 30.04 coronavirus cases in India, while the global average is over three times at 114.67, the ministry said, referring to the WHO Situation Report 153, dated June 21.
‘This low figure is thus a testimony to the graded, pre-emptive and pro-active approach the Government of India along with the states and UTs took for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19,” the ministry said in a statement.
Citing the WHO Situation Report, it said the US has 671.24 cases per lakh population, while Germany, Spain, Brazil and the UK have 583.88, 526.22, 489.42 and 448.86 cases per lakh population, respectively.
It said Russia has 400.82 cases per lakh people, while Italy, Canada, Iran and Turkey have 393.52, 268.98, 242.82 and 223.53, respectively.
Kerala reported its highest ever single day spike of 138 COVID-19 cases taking the total number to 3,308.
This is the fourth straight day of over 100 infections being reported, after 118 on June 19, 127 on June 20 and 133 on Sunday.
With increasing number of cases, the government also declared four more regions in the state as hot spots, taking the total number to 112. The country’s first COVID-19 case was recorded in Kerala on January 30.
Concerned over increase in COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa directed officials to implement lockdown measures strictly in the clusters which have reported more number of infections.
Till Sunday evening, the state capital reported 1,272 cases of COVID-19, including 64 deaths and 411 discharges. On Sunday, as many as 196 fresh cases were recorded.
In Gujarat, nearly 300 workers of diamond units in Surat city have tested positive for coronavirus in the last 10 days, following which fresh restrictions have been imposed on the industry’s operations, an official said.
As part of the new curbs, three main diamond trading markets will remain shut twice a week, while canteens of all the diamond polishing units will remain closed on all days to contain the spread of coronavirus, said Surat Municipal Commissioner Banchhanidhi Pani.
Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, has become the first state to use the Railways’ coronavirus isolation wards with coaches deployed at Mau station receiving 59 suspected COVID-19 cases in two days, officials said.
They said eight people have already been discharged and 51 are housed in these non-air conditioned coaches, modified to work as COVID care centres.The admitted cases include women and children, the officials said.
UP has reported over 18,000 coronavirus cases, while the death toll was 569.
As pharmaceutical companies launch generic versions of Remdesivir and Favipiravir for COVID-19 treatment, medical experts said it was a “positive development” in the fight against the pandemic, but cautioned against regarding the antiviral drugs as “game changers”.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has launched the antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 cases, while Cipla and Hetero have received approvals from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to launch Remdesivir under the brand names Cipremi and Covifor respectively.
Cipla Ltd on Sunday announced the launch of Cipremi.
Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor at the Centre for Community Medicine, AIIMS Delhi, said till date no effective treatment or vaccine to combat coronavirus has been found.
“Till date we don’t have evidence that a particular drug is effective, so we cannot call any drug game changer till then. With their launch, it will only be clear in the future how effective they will be. Whether they can play a supportive role in COVID-19 treatment is also not yet known,” he told PTI.
