Coronavirus outbreak: India cases at 26,496; Delhi tally climbs to 2,625

The confirmed coronavirus cases in the country jumped to 26,496 as the death toll mounted to 824, according to the health ministry on Sunday.

In the national capital, the number of coronavirus positive cases spiked to 2,625 with 111 new cases and one death being reported in a day, according to Delhi government on Saturday.

Of the total number of 54 fatalities reported till date, 29 of the deceased were aged 60 and above, making over 53 per cent of the total death cases, news agency PTI reported. Fifteen of them were aged between 50-59 and 10 were aged less than 50 years, officials said.

The death toll from Covid-19 in Delhi has risen to 54.

Meanwhile, a nurse at a civic hospital in north Delhi tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, following which the facility has been closed down, officials said.

The Hindu Rao Hospital run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, has been temporarily shut for complete sanitisation and contact tracing, they said.

According to the Delhi Health Department bulletin on Saturday, out of the total 2,625 cases recorded so far, at least 481 are admitted at various hospitals like LNJP Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) and AIIMS Jhajjar, adding that 41 of them are in ICU and 8 on ventilators.

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan High Court was on Saturday declared closed till May 3 after one of its key officials, sitting close to judges during the judicial proceedings, tested positive for Covid-19.

In a statement, the high court said it shall remain closed till May 3 and no matters, except only immensely urgent matters, will be heard.

The concerned judge, to whose court the official was attached, however, tested negative for the infection. The notification to this effect has been issued today on April 25.

On Saturday, the central teams on Covid-19 assessment alleged non-cooperation by the West Bengal government and wondered whether the ruling dispensation would take responsibility for its members' safety, drawing sharp riposte from the TMC which mocked the IMCTs as "India's Most Callous Team".

In a fresh set of letters to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the two teams, which are in Bengal to assess the ground-level situation, one in Kolkata and the other in Siliguri in North Bengal, flagged several instances of non-cooperation in providing logistical support and other relevant information and suggested stricter implementation of the lockdown to prevent the contagion.

The ruling Trinamool Congress hit back, alleging the central teams were working with a malafide intention of maligning Bengal, in order to please their BJP bosses.

The inter-ministerial central team (IMCT), led by senior bureaucrat Apurba Chandra, said it is yet to receive a response from the state government to the letters it has written to Sinha since its arrival in the city on Monday.

The central teams' visit has been far from smooth from the day it arrived.The Bengal government alleged they were kept in dark about the visit and also attached political motives behind the move.
 

In Odisha, three more people have been confirmed positive for coronavirus on Sunday, said the state health department.

"With three more Covid-19 positive cases, the total number has spiked to 103," read an official statement issued by the Health Department.

Of the 103 cases, 68 are active cases, 34 have recovered and 1 death has been reported till now, the statement further read.

Jharkhand reported eight more people testing positive for coronavirus on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 67, health officials said.

While five of these fresh cases were reported from Ranchi district, three were reported from Palamu district.

In Bihar, 28 fresh coronavirus cases were reported on Saturday, raising the total number of patients in the state to 251, a top Health Department official said.

According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, Patna district witnessed a rise with seven cases followed by Kaimur (6) and Buxar (5).

Three fresh cases were reported in Jamalpur town which had on Friday registered as many as 30 cases. Besides, the central Bihar district of Arwal reported its first case. Rohtas accounted for two cases, while Gaya, Bhojpur, Saran and Vaishali reported one case each.