With a jump of 48,648 new coronavirus cases, India’s overall COVID-19 tally is past 80.88 lakh, government data released this morning shows. The one-day case count is 2.4% lower than yesterday’s. In this period, 563 people died because of the highly infectious disease, pushing the total number of Covid fatalities to 1,21,090. The national recovery rate crossed 91 per cent, the fatality rate remains at 1.5 per cent.
Amid concerns of a third wave, more than 57,000 people successfully fought off the viral disease taking the overall recoveries to 73.7 lakh. There are less than 6 lakh people currently receiving treatment for COVID-19, symptoms of which may become more severe as the winter sets in.
India conducted about 1 crore tests to diagnose coronavirus in the last nine days, with a daily average of 11 lakh tests. The national average positivity rate has been falling progressively as testing has increased and touched about 4.6 per cent.
Cases in India have been dipping since a peak hit in September, but experts have warned of a possible spike during the festival season, which runs until mid-November.
Despite the coronavirus spread being on a downward trend across the country, a surge in Delhi, West Bengal and Kerala has concerned the central government.
The Union Health Secretary held a high level meeting with state officials from these states which have seen a rise of 46 per cent, 23 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively in the past month.
The Centre has asked these states to improve their testing, contact tracing and boost public awareness on mask wearing and distancing.
As Kerala continued to report the highest one-day cases in the country – 7,020 – Delhi saw its highest daily infections for the second straight day, registering a new high of 5,739 fresh cases over the last 24 hours.
